

1 


BV 1520 




,H32 




Copy 1 






LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

nsvrsao 

if/ap. ©optjrjgljt Jftt* 

Shelf M.&&. 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



THE 



HELPER. 



BY J. H. HARDIN. 




4 That we might he fellow helpers to the truth.' ' — JOHN. 



ST. LOUIS : 
JOHN BURNS, Publisher, 

1880. 






COPYRIGHTED BY 

JOHN BURNS, 
1880. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 



PAGE. 



The Sunday School — Its Place and Purpose. Re- 
lation to effort to restore primitive Christianity; 
Three phases of labor; What Raikes found; Every 
church a school ; Proper control ; Mischievous ten- 
dencies 5-8 

CHAPTER II. 

Organization. Officers ; A work, not an " institu- 
tion;" Importance of a chorister; Who should 
select officers; Classification; Age; Sex: Disposi- 
tion ; Number; Intellectual development; Scripture 
knowledge • Religious status ; Selecting 1 a course 
of lessons 8-13 

CHAPTER III. 

Superintendent. Qualifications; Work; Hints; 
Order of exercises 13-18 

CHAPTER IY. 

The Teacher. Qualifications; A word of caution; 
Aim; Reach the heart; Preparation; Memorize; 
Connections ; Analyze ; Little words ; Parallel 
passages; Helps; Illustrations; Practical lessons; 
Prayer in preparation ; Teaching by rule ; Methods ; 
Lectures ; Stories ; Questions ; Example ; Silly 
questions; Fewest words: Don't pretend to know 
everything: The Savior's questions; Object teach- 
ing: Catch-words, 18-35 



II TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER V. 

PAGE . 

The Infant Class. Best teacher; Same lesson as 
rest of the school; School within itself; Helps; 
Vanity; Teach children to read; Precious charge; 
Words hy crafts 35-39 

CHAPTER VI. 

The Teacher's Meeting. Purposes; Necessity of 
cooperation ; How conducted ; Where ; When ; 
Don't ; Teacher's meetings in the country ; Supply 
class; Course of study 39-44 

CHAPTER VII. 

Teacher's Helps. Teacher's Bible; Every teacher 
a Bible ; Teacher's Libi^ry ; List of books it should 
contain; Other literature; Institutes; Strongest 
help from above 44-48 

CHAPTER VII r. 

International Lessons. History of the system ; 
Preliminary steps ; Limited lesson scheme; Pardee. 
Vincent, Ralph Wells and Eof^leston; Two years 
with Jesus ; B. F. Jacobs ; National S. S. Convention 
at Indianapolis in 1872; Final adoption; What it 
has accomplished ; Party lines broken down; Un- 
precedented Bible study; Church life; Better re- 
ligious literature; Abuses; Must be understood as 
a system 49-59 

CHAPTER IX. 

The Blackboard. Tts uses; How to use it; "Not to 
display artistic skill ; Outline without exhausting; 
Perforated outlines ; Clearness of thought: Words 
bv H. Clay Trumbull ; Some outline lessons 59-72 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. Ill 

CHAPTER X. 

PAGE. 

Reviews and How To Conduct Them. Several 
kinds ; The great condenser ; The hinge on which 
the school turns; Annual examinations; More 
thoroughness needed 73-75 

CHAPTER XT. 

S. S. Worship. Worship much neglected; External 
acts of worship; Singing; Words we sing; Scrip- 
tural tunes; Simple; Not a Sunday Concert; En- 
courage all to sing ; Appropriate songs ; Solemnity ; 
Reading the Scriptures; Three ways; All to pay 
attention ; Appropriate lesson ; Brief passage ; 
Prayer; Short; Special; Bible prayers; Simple 
language; In faith.. 75-88 

CHAPTER XII. 

Other Helps. Geography ; Holy Land and how to 
study it; Topography; Bible places, interesting; 
Outline of points ; Special lectures ; Constant refer- 
ence; Books of travel; Maps; Money as a help; 
What need for money; How not to raise it; How 
to raise it; Money reports 89-98 

CHAPTER XIII. 

Children's Meetings. Some of their uses ; Hold 
them at stated times: Tact must guide those who 
conduct them; " Exercises:" Children's sermons; 
Paragraph from S. S. Times: "Gush;" "Little 
talks:" Minister generally must lead 98-104 

CHAPTER XIV. 

The Home and S. S. They help each other: 
Mothers sowing seed ; S. S. literature blesses many 
homes: A scene: Homes made Christian by the S. 
S.: How can home help the school; Parent's duty 
to teachers 104-109 



IV TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XV. 

PAGE. 

The Study of Childhood. Text book of the age ; 
" A little child shall lead them ; " The Bible has 
revealed childhood to the world ; All should study 
childhood; Benjamin W. Dwight; What W. F. 
Crafts says; Childhood's Dictionary 109-117 

CHAPTER XVI. 

The Preacher and S. S. Special relation ; Pastor 
of the church, pastor also of the S. S. ; General 
oversight; Not a teacher; Preach to church about 
the school; To the school about the church 118-120 

CHAPTER XVII. 

Country Sunday Schools. Their claims ; In many 
respects no difference; In others wide difference; 
Special difficulties; Adapt the school to circum- 
stances; Energy required ; Get ready for Sunday; 
Combine worship of the church and work of the 
school; Punctuality; Same lessons; Union Schools. 121-126 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

Things Left Over. Conventions ; An old folks' class ; 
Obscure workers ; Encourage the children to read ; 
Rewards; Parents and children at church; The 
old folks 126-137 

AN ESSAY. 

Christian Woman's Responsibility in the Relig- 
ious Education of the Young, by Mrs. O. A. 
Carr, Columbia, Mo 138-144 



TO THE READER. 



This little volume is intended to do good. To 
write it, has been a labor of love. It is not in- 
tended to be an exhaustive treatise on Sunday 
School work, but simply a few suggestive words 
along the line of the earnest worker's difficulties. 
Should these suggestions afford even a little help 
to those who need it, their author will be satisfied. 

The preparation of this little work for the press, 
was undertaken at the suggestion of others ; it 
remains to be seen whether or not their judgment 
was at fault. 

Should any one detect incoherency of arrange- 
ment, or faulty rhetoric, these must be attributed 
to the fact that these chapters have been written 



IV TO THE READER. 

in the midst of constant travel and labor as an 
evangelist, and, therefore, under the most unfa- 
vorable conditions. 

It is hoped that whatever may be the judgment 
of men, God will bless the work to the glory of 
His name. J. H. HAEDIN. 



I.-THE SUNDAY SCHOOL-ITS PLACE AND 
PURPOSE. 



HAS the Sunday School a place in the work 
of a religious movement, the purpose of 
which is to restore Primitive Christianity? 
This depends on the work it is intended to do. 
If this be other than that authorized by the 
Scriptures, then it has no legitimate place in 
the church of Jesus Christ. 

What, then, are the designs of such an insti- 
tution ? We assign to it three phases of Chris- 
tian labor : 

1. Religious culture of the young. 

2. Spiritual culture of church members. 

3. Conversion of sinners to Christ. 

All these are comprehended in well known 
Bible commands and examples. To do these 
things is, therefore, scriptural and right. 

It has been well said that Robert Raikes 
"found" an institution rather than " founded " 
one. " He found a want, a supply, a time and 
practicable agency for bringing the want and 



6 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL HELPER. 

the supply together. He found an existing 
destitution of moral instruction and religious 
influences, such as stirred in his generous soul 
the profoundest pity. He found a day as old 
as the traditions of Paradise, a remedy as old 
as Christianity. He found a diamond in the 
rough, infinitely more precious than he knew ; 
but he guessed faintly its worth ; and, like one 
possessed by a thought mightier than himself, 
began telling of it to others, until they, too, 
caught the contagion of it, and began more 
than he himself had dared hope could be 
done." — Simeon Gilbert. 

In other words, he found, together with those 
who followed him, that the systematic teach- 
ing of Christianity to all the untaught, which 
was a large part of the work of the Primitive 
Church had been lost sight of, and he set on 
foot a work, the outcome of which, will be to 
restore this feature of the ancient order of 
things. 

It follows, therefore, that a people whose 
effort it is to exhibit Christianity to the world 
as it was in the beginning, of all others on 
earth should be interested in the Sunday 



SUNDAY SCHOOL — PLACE, PURPOSE. 7 

School and its work. This work being, as 
already set forth, it is urged that — 

1. Every congregation should carry on a 
Sunday School. 

2. The whole membership should be en- 
gaged in it either as teachers or pupils, and 

3. The school should be under the control 
of the proper authorities of the church. It 
should not be made a substitute for the public 
proclamation of the gospel, but rather prepar- 
atory for and supplementary of the preacher's 
work. It should not be allowed to take the 
place of the public worship of the church, but 
should teach all in it, u how to behave them- 
selves in the house of God." 

Too much care can not be exercised to pre- 
vent the building up of an institution which 
shall take the reins of authority into its own 
hands, and usurp the position of our Savior's 
bride ; and it is only by a clear conception of 
the Sunday School's place and mission, and a 
determined effort to keep it in its place and 
confine it to its legitimate work, that we can 
hope to counteract many mischievous tenden- 
cies now prevailing. 



THE SUNDAY SCHOOL HELPER. 



II-ORGANIZATION. 



THIS is the bringing together of the differ- 
ent elements of the school, into such rela- 
tions as will subserve the purposes had in 
view. It includes the election of proper officers 
and teachers, the classification of scholars, and 
the adoption of a course of study. The officers 
of a Sunday School should be 

1. Superintendent. 

2. Secretary and Treasurer. 

3. Chorister. 

4. Librarian. 

In large schools it may be necessarv to ap- 
point an Assistant Superintendent, but in the 
average school it is not ; if it is necessary for 
the regular Superintendent to be absent he can 
put some one into his place temporarily. The 
Secretary can keep the money and thus put 
both offices into one. Should there be a libra- 
ry in the school, it will be the duty of the 
librarian to see that it is kept in order. Our 
reason for thus curtailing the usual list of 



OKGANIZATION. 9 

officers, is to make the organization of the 
Sunday School as simple as possible ; to make 
it more of a work, and less of an "institution." 
We need much more of humble work for 
Christ, and much less of Sunday School red 
tape. 

It is desired to emphasize the importance of 
appointing a Chorister or leader of the music. 
Much depends on this item in the worship, and 
hence the necessity of having some one person 
responsible for it. In many schools the music 
is a failure, not because there is a lack of 
musical talent, but because there is no one 
who feels bound to look after it. 

Who should select these officers? A com- 
mon way is for the whole mass of those who 
shall constitute the school, to hold an election 
and vote themselves officers from among their 
number. Another, is for the congregation in 
the interest of which the school is to be carried 
on, to appoint its officers. This is more orderly 
and is in harmony with what has already been 
said of the place and purpose of the school. 
It may be done by the ballot of the whole 
church, by a committee, or by the action of its 



10 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL HELPEK. 

officers in its behalf. Never allow the idea to 
be lost sight of, that the school is under the 
control and supervision of the church. Of 
course we should proceed differently in the 
case of a union school, or, which we sometime 
meet with, a school under the direction of an 
individual. Then common sense should guide 
us. 

CLASSIFICATION. 

The efficiency of the school will depend in 
no small degree upon the proper distribution 
of the pupils into grades and classes. For 
this, it is impossible to give any fixed rules. 
The insight of the Superintendent into human 
nature, must be his guide. We venture a few 
points only which should be considered : 

1. Age. It will not do to allow those whose 
ages differ very widely to be put into the same 
classes. It will be better to suffer great dis- 
parity of attainments than too great disparity 
of age. 

2. Sex. We see no good reason, other 
things being equal, why classes should be 
composed entirely of one sex. There may be 
found in the school, however, a few boys or a 



0KGANIZAT10]*. 11 

few girls who would do much better to them- 
selves, than in mixed classes ; let them be so 
arranged. The same children who study and 
recite together during the week, may do so on 
the Lord's day. The same men and women 
who intermingle in the congregation may do 
so in the school. 

3. Disposition. This is a very important 
point. The teacher who can manage one dis- 
position might make a complete failure if com- 
pelled to try to handle one entirely different 
at the same time. More care should be taken 
to secure adaptation between teacher and 
pupil, than among the pupils themselves. 

4. Number. How many should be in a 
class ? This depends on both the scholars and 
the teacher. One teacher will get along finely 
with half a dozen, who would be entirely un- 
able to manage fifteen ; another teacher would 
manage that same fifteen with perfect ease. Of 
some kinds of scholars there should be as few 
as possible together ; of others, there may be 
as many as you please. 

5. Intellectual development. It will be 
found that some children of ten years will be 



12 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL HELPER. 

intellectually ahead of those at fifteen. The 
Ibest that can be done, sometimes, is to keep 
such together, but if it can be done let the 
bright ones be put together and the dull ones 
together that the one may go forward unhin- 
dered, and the others may not be embarrassed 
in their presence. 

6. Scripture knowledge. This should be 
taken into account, and an effort made to 
secure some degree of uniformity ; but if this 
can not be satisfactorily accomplished, it need 
cause no trouble; for those otherwise well 
classified will soon reach an equilibrium in 
knowledge. 

7. Religious status. Is it wise to put into 
the same class Christians and unconverted 
people? There are some things strongly in 
favor of doing so. The man or boy who is a 
prospective Christian, may be greatly profited 
by learning, before he comes into the church, 
the practical obligations of the Christian pro- 
fession. The Christians of the class, if they 
be earnest and true ones, by their interest in 
divine things, may exert a salutary influence 
over the unconverted of their number. The 



OKGANIZATIOIST. 13 

teacher is afforded many an opportunity to 
contrast the promises made to the Christian 
with the hopeless end of the sinner. 

After all, though, there is much that inclines 
us to the other course. Any one can teach 
better who directs the lesson towards one 
practical aim. The preachers, feeling this, 
preach sometimes exclusively to Christians, 
and sometimes to sinners — now to the old, 
again to the young. Further, a lesson directed 
thus to any given class, will be much more 
sensibly felt by those it is intended to benefit, 
than if it were supposed to apply to some one 
else. " Thou art the man," will drive home a 
lesson much more directly than to talk of 
" two men, the one rich and the other poor." 

It seems more in harmony with a proper di- 
vision of the word of God that all should be 
directed to those lessons especially applicable 
to them. 

The International Series of uniform lessons 
is now so generally adopted by the schools of 
all lands, it is hardly probable that schools 
hereafter organized will meet with much trou- 
ble in selecting a course of lessons. In an- 



14 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL HELPER. 

other place will be found a history of this 
series of lessons, together with remarks on its 
use. 



III.-THE SUPERINTENDENT. 



FIEST. — His qualificatio7is. 
He should, 

(1.) Be a Christian, an earnest one. 

(2.) Possess executive ability. 

(3.) Be a man of order. 

(4.) Love little children, as well as every 
body else. 

(5.) Be kind. 

(6.) Possess decision of character. 

(7.) Be a firm man. 

(8.) Be consecrated. 

Of course a model Superintendent, or a 
model anybody else, is hard to find ; yet these 
plain things will help as to fix m our mind 
something of a standard. Other qualifications 
might be added, but it is not deemed necessa- 



THE SUPEKINTENDENT. 15 

ry to cumber these pages with the merely 
ideal. 

Second. — His Work. 

It is to 

(1.) Direct the worship of the school. 

(2.) Supervise the work of the teachers. 

(3.) See that each teacher has a class, and 
each class a teacher. 

(4.) Supervise the work of the other officers. 

(5.) Conduct the Teachers' Meeting, or see 
that it is properly done. 

(6.) Keep order not only during opening and 
closing, but during recitations also. 

(7.) Conduct reviews. 

(8.) Keep the church in sympathy with the 
school. 

(9.) Hunt up such absentees as can not be 
accounted for by the teachers. 

(10.) Welcome strangers who may be pres- 
ent, and give them something to do. 

(11.) In all possible legitimate ways pro- 
mote the interest of the school. 

In order to further set forth our conception 
of the Superintendent's work, we submit the 
following practical suggestions : 

1. Always have in mind, or written out on 



16 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL HELPEE. 

a slip of paper, a programme of the session's 
work. This is important, in view of the fact 
that variety of exercises is necessary to keep 
up the interest. Nothing can be called order- 
ly, which does not conform to some prescribed 
outline. 

2. The Superintendent should feel that he 
is engaged in the Lord's work, and that he is 
not prepared for it, until he has earnestly com- 
mitted himself and it to God in prayer. From 
the closet to the school should be his custom. 

3. Order means the proper running of the 
school while in session ; and it includes punc- 
tuality, promptness, and regularity also. The 
Superintendent should be in his place several 
minutes before the time for opening, to see 
that all things are ready, and to greet teachers 
and scholars with the " word fitly spoken," as 
they shall come in. 

4. He should not be noisy ; many make a 
big fuss to stop a little one. Frequently the 
" fidgets " of the Superintendent take posses- 
sion of all. 

5. Let him not fall into the habit of lectur- 
ing the school ; neither let him permit this to 



THE SUPERINTENDENT. 17 

be done. Especially let there be no scolding, 
either by himself, his pastor, nor any one else. 
If any one is allowed to address the school, 
let him speak in a proper spirit, on a proper 
subject, for a prescribed time, and then stop 
him ; and the more he wants to go on, the more 
he ought to be stopped and never allowed to 
start again. 

6. He should form together with the minis- 
ter, a connecting link between his school and 
the church. He should take pride in seeing 
that his work is kept in proper relationship 
with the church. He should be careful that 
nothing is done by the school that will scan- 
dalize, divide, or in any way bring reproach 
upon the church ; that the school be not made 
an avenue through which worldliness shall 
find its way into the congregation of the 
saints. 

As suggestive to Superintendents, the follow- 
ing order of exercises is inserted here. It is 
not to be understood as inflexible, but will 
admit of almost infinite additions, subtrac- 
tions, or other changes to suit circumstances : 

1. Singing two Hymns, - 10 minutes. 



18 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL HELPER. 



2. Scripture Lesson, 


5 


minutes. 


3. Prayer, - 


2 


u 


4. Song, - 


3 


it 


5. Recitation, 


30 


u 


6. Review, - 


5 


u 


7. Report of Sec'y, Distribu- 






tion of papers, etc., 


5 


U 


8. Announcements, etc., 


5 


U 


9. Singing and Close, 


10 


u 


Whole Time, - 1 hour 15 


u 


The school should seldom continue longer 


than this. If any longer, not more 


than ten 


minutes. 







IV -THE TEACHER. 



THERE should unite in the character of the 
teacher many or all of the following 

QUALIFICATIONS : 

1 . Piety, a good report from without. 

2. A love for children. 

3. A desire for excellence in the work. 



THE TEACHER. 19 

4. Tact in management; aptness in teach- 
ing. 

5. General knowledge of the Bible. 

6. Common sense. 

7. Industry. 

8. Patience. 

9. Cheerfulness. 

10. Consecration. 

11. Enthusiasm. 

Now, a word of caution, fellow teacher. 
Some of these qualifications you have ; others, 
perhaps a majority of them, you have in a lim- 
ited degree ; still others, are lacking altogether. 
You get discouraged and say, "If it takes all 
these to make a teacher it is no use for me to 
try." Not so ; by trying, and only thus, can 
you hope to possess the qualities of the true 
teacher. Instead of giving up, let the fact 
that the standard is a high one, and that you 
may be below it, nerve you to greater efforts 
to reach it. If you lack some of the qualifica- 
tions, go to work to supply the lack. Our. 
Savior is infinitely above us all ; but this is 
not an excuse for us to allow his beckoning 
" follow me " to go unheeded. 



20 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL HELPER. 

HIS AIM. — SALVATION. 

A passage that every teacher should learn 
by heart, and repeat "before every recitation, 
is Paul's words to Timothy : " Take heed unto 
thyself and the doctrine ; continue in them ; 
for in so doing thou shalt both save thyself 
and them that hear thee." Save thyself ; but, 
to do this you must try to save them that hear 
you. Everything the teacher does should have 
in it the purpose to save the souls of the 
scholars. In the case of children, unconverted 
grown people, or church members, the aim 
should be the same. Never, while on earth, 
shall men and women be so much like the 
Lord Jesus himself, as when they are engaged 
in an earnest effort to save a soul from death. 
There is inspiration in a work like this to fill 
us with a loathing for indifference and trifling ; 
to fill our souls with joy in the midst of toil ; 
to give us even now a foretaste of the glad- 
ness that shall fill our hearts when the harvest 
home is sung. Many teachers seem to think 
the purpose of their work is to see that the 
scholars have a "good time." Hence any les- 



THE TEACHER. 21 

son or appliance that interests and entertains 
is called a success, whether it does more or 
not. Others are content if their class has 
learned so much of Bible geography, chro- 
nology, history, biography ; or if so many 
verses have been " said," though no heart 
has been touched ; no conscience has been 
awakened ; no soul has been confirmed in the 
faith ; no little feet have been turned into the 
path of life. Mistaken teacher. The tree of 
your planting will bear " nothing but leaves." 

It is right to interest and entertain your 
class ; indeed, unless you first do this, you will 
fail in everything else ; but when you have by 
this means opened the portals of the soul, don't 
fail to enter in and occupy that temple for the 
Lord. It is right to teach the Bible History, 
sinners, died without the gate. 

A boy may learn all about Judea, Samaria 
and Galilee, and yet grow up to a life of sin. 
A girl may follow Jesus, historically, in all His 
travels, and yet never choose " that better part." 
A man or woman may even find where " Eden's 
bowers bloomed," and yet go to hell, because 
they know not Him who " was in the beginning 



22 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL HELPER. 

with God." A lesson may be artistically out- 
lined on the blackboard, but it is a labor 
thrown away that does not imprint the name 
of Jesus upon the hearts of those who see. 

PREPARATION. 

As soon as one lesson is over, begin to get 
ready to teach the next one ; at least, begin 
quite early in the week. Don't wait till the 
teacher's meeting ; for, the work done here, 
while it may be good, will be largely some 
one's else, and not your own. Observe some 
regular order, like the following : 

1. Memorize the Lesson; much has been 
said against memorizing Scripture, and much 
of it has been a just rebuke of a great abuse. 
But memorizing Scripture, while it has been 
abused, has uses we should not over-look. By 
memorizing the lessons, the teacher will ac- 
quire freedom, accumulate a fund of Bible 
knowledge, and give the class confidence, that 
will compensate for any amount of work re- 
quired to do it. 

2. Get the Connections. This will include 
at least, the following : 



THE TEACHER. 23 

• (1). Geographical — The Where. 

(2). Chronological— The When. 

(3). Historical— The What, 

(4). Logical— The Why. 

It should now be well understood by all, that 
the charge of " scrap work," brought so many 
times against the International Series, is entire- 
ly unfounded, It was supposed by the origin- 
ators of the system that teachers, worthy the 
name, would not be content with a hasty look 
at the verses printed on the lesson paper ; but 
that they would connect each lesson with all 
the rest, by studying that which lies between. 
JSo teacher is prepared to teach this series, who 
is not diligent enough to do this. 

3. Analyze the Lesson. We may commit 
to memory and repeat that which is not under- 
stood. This is frequently done. It is this kind 
of " getting by heart," that is so much objected 
to. To prevent this, let the teacher analyze 
his lesson, i. e., think over it in a systematic 
way that will give him a firm grasp of every 
thought in it. You can teach only that which 
you can express in your own words. 

4. Study well the little toords ; especially 



24 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL HELPER. 

look to the familiar ones. A careful study of 
each word will often compel the modification 
of the analysis already made ; this is the value 
of such study ; it corrects the faults of careless 
thought. 

5. Parallel Passages. With a Reference Bi- 
ble or Concordance, hunt these out, mark them, 
or, which is better, commit them to memory, that 
they may throw light on the points in the 
lesson. Thus, you study the lesson in the light 
of the whole Bible. 

6. Lesson Helps. These are mentioned thus 
far along, with a purpose. The International 
series is intended to furnish teachers a means 
of preparation ; its use will do this ; but its 
abuse destroys all genuine preparation. That 
teacher, who neglects the lesson all the week, 
and then reads before the class that which is 
found on the paper, is not teaching in any true 
sense of the word. To correct this abuse, let 
the teacher make independent preparation, 
using the lesson paper and commentary only 
after every other resource has been exhausted. 
The smooth stones from the brook may not 
look so war-like as Saul's armor, but David can 



THE TEACHER. 25 

kill a giant with them much better. The teach- 
er may admire some commentator's big thought, 
but he can wield his own little one much better 
before the class. 

7. Illustrations. Those which come un- 
sought will always be the aptest, yet it is highly 
proper to seek for them. The teacher should 
be, indeed, on the alert for them, all the time. 
Object lessons should be freely used. When 
teacher's meet, they should not fail to exchange 
illustrations, that all may have the benefit of 
each other's observation. 

8. Practical Lessons. Never fail to make 
a practical application of the lesson to the 
class ; to this end search out and fix in mind 
for ready use, or else commit to writing every 
point that can be made to bear upon the prac- 
tical lives of those you teach. On this point, 
we cannot do better than to quote the remarks 
of Pansy in " The Teacher's Helper : " " Pass- 
ing over a great number of minor errors that 
might be mentioned, let me suggest to you one 
which seems to be more fatal in its results than 
almost any other form of evil in our classes. 
There are those who carefully prepare and 



26 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL HELPER. 

carefully teach the lessons for the day ; who 
select the salient points in the lesson and pre- 
sent them well, so that their classes make a 
better show on review Sunday than, perhaps, 
most of the advanced classes of the school, and 
yet their teaching is a failure. Their lessons 
are without a practical point or personal ap^ 
plication. This mistake is more serious in the 
primary class than anywhere else. A well- 
taught Bible class may be safely left, sometimes, 
to follow out in silence, with the aid of theirown 
consciences, the personal application of the 
solemn truth. But the little ones need help in 
this very direction. They are not going to see 
in what possible way the experiences of one 
Paul, who lived and who died so many years 
ago, can affect them, unless the teacher, with 
unmistakable clearness, points out the way. 
This, primary teachers some times fail to do." 
Don't forget in your preparation, to pray. 
Your mind may be well stored with the truth 
of the lesson ; in its principles you may be well 
nigh perfect ; yet you are poorly prepared to 
teach it till your heart has been made feel its 
power, and the Christ-likeness of your work 



THE TEACHER. 27 

has overwhelmed your soul. This heart-power 
will be obtained by meditation and prayer. 
Besides, God's blessings are for those who ask 
Him. From the closet to the class, should be 
your course. 

We were once sadly disappointed, on mak- 
ing a search through a book on teaching, 
for some infallible rules by which to teach, in 
not finding them. Some teachers will take 
up this little volume expecting us to give them 
such a set of rules ; they, too, will be disap- 
pointed. It can not be done. No two persons 
can teach alike. No person should try to copy 
another's method entire ; failure will surely 
be the result. We may give hints and they 
will do good: more in setting the teachers 
mind to work than as copies to be followed. 
Books may be read to great profit ; not that 
they contain methods to be slavishly followed, 
but they furnish food for thought that will 
bring into play the real powers of the one who 
reads. So such things lead to the invention 
of methods, new to others, but better adapted 
to their inventor than any other. The best 
rule that can possibly be laid down is a very 



28 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL HELPER. 

familiar one, and yet one without the repeti- 
tion of which we should feel our work to be 
entirely incomplete ; it is : Be yourself. With 
all the field of experience before you, not 
wilfully nor stubbornly, but respecting the 
laws of your own being, adopt the methods 
best suited to you, and let nothing turn you 
from them. 

Having thus tried to guard the reader, we 
are prepared to submit some remarks on 

METHODS OF TEACmNG. 

1. The Lecture. This is a method suited 
better for teaching grown up people than 
children. There are very few who can lecture 
well enough to teach in this way. Most per- 
sons are dull lecturers. Almost all classes of 
persons, old and young, like more variety than 
can be expected in a lecture. Before adopt- 
ing this as your method, try it long enough to 
demonstrate your ability to use it acceptably. 

2. Illustrative Stories, etc. The lesson 
may be presented in the form of a story ; then 
incidents and stories gathered around this by 
way of illustration. This is the best to use in 



THE TEACHER. 29 

the primary classes. It is hard to do. Stories 
are not easily told, even if all had a never 
failing supply, and this we have not. When 
once a teacher has started in on stories it is 
very hard to stop ; the fancy of the wee ones 
for " stories," is something wonderful ; it is an 
unbounded interest. The one who meets the 
demand is a genius. The danger is that the 
legitimate work of the class will be lost in the 
telling of stories that do nothing but enter- 
tain. If the lesson can be taught in the form 
of a story, without destroying the dignity of 
its thought, it is well. The way to keep a fund 
of stories to illustrate in this kind of teaching, 
is to read the Bible, and treasure up its his- 
tory of men and things ; keep eyes and ears 
open, and remember what you see and hear. 
Study nature, for nature and the Bible coming 
from the same mind, are close kin, and the one 
illustrates the other ; and, in addition to all, 
keep a scrap book, and as you read, clip out 
of papers striking incidents, and keep them in 
stock. It is an excellent plan to subscribe for 
and read some first-class children's magazine, 
such as St. Nicholas or Wide Awake. Thus 



30 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL HELPEK. 

even the teacher who has thought himself en- 
tirely lacking in the power of illustration will 
find it easy enough before long. A careful 
study of the parables will help the teacher 
who would learn this art, for these are simply 
illustrations. Jesus was the great illustrative 
Teacher. Read also the sermons of Talmage, 
Beecher, Spurgeon, not to learn their illustra- 
tion, but to learn how they employ them. 

3. Questions, and how to asJc them. All the 
great teachers of earth have taught largely by 
the use of questions. They may be used for 
the following purposes : 

Examination ; or to find out how much the 
pupil knows of a thing. 

Suggestion ; to indicate to him some point 
not noticed, or to show him how little he 
knows. 

Mental stimulus ; to awaken the mind to 
thought. 

To lead the thought in a desired direction. 

The worst abuse of the International Lessons, 
is the slavish employment of the questions put 
down on the lesson papers. This is done be- 
cause teachers do not prepare themselves by 



THE TEACHER. 31 

independent thought. The questions put down 
on the papers are meant to help teachers and 
scholars in preparation, and not to be read in 
recitation ; any such use of a lesson paper or 
question book is a great abuse. To question 
well, both the lesson and the class must be 
well understood. Don't try to ask too many 
questions. A few well chosen ones will be 
better than a great mass of pointless ones. As 
a rule don't ask such as can be answered by 
yes, or no. Shun such as can be answered by 
reading the verse about which they are asked. 
For example : 

Teacher reads, " In the beginning was the" — 
what ? 

Scholar reads, " The Word." 

T. "And the Word was with" — whom ? 

8. " God." 

T. " The same was in" — what ? 

& " The beginning." 

After such a performance as this, it will 
matter little to that class where, when or what 
the word was in the beginning, or at any other 
time. 

Don't ask silly questions. Better sit idle 



32 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL HELPER. 

than thus to fill up time. Such teaching only 
serves to degrade the Bible in the minds of the 
scholars. Put each question directly to some 
member of the class, if possible. Ask the 
question first that all may be ready, and then 
call the name of some one. 

Use the fewest words possible. Encourage 
the pupils to give brief, pointed answers. 
Some one has said, never give your class a 
thought without asking them for it again. The 
advice is good. Another wise suggestion is, 
never tell your class anything you can make 
them tell you. Encourage them to hunt out 
things for themsleves. They will soon grow to 
like this. Encourage them to ask questions. 
You can not do this by saying, " now children, 
ask me some questions." The answer will 
generally be, and truthfully too, " we don't 
know anything to ask." Set them thinking; 
then the questions will come so fast, and such 
hard ones, your class will appear to you so 
many interrogation points. 

Don't permit the class to ask " smart " ques- 
tions, and don't be guilty of the like yourself. 

Children will ask you some very puzzling 



THE TEACHEK. 33 

ones some times. What shall be done if one is 
asked 3^011 can not answer? Some teachers 
will try to appear to know every thing. If yon 
conld deceive your class and make them be- 
lieve yon understand a thing when you do not r 
still it would be wrong. When you don't 
know a thing, say so, frankly. One of the im- 
portant things to be taught in Sunday School, 
is that we can not comprehend infinite things. 
Ask a question sometimes which you yourself 
can not answer, and when your pupils have 
tried and failed, show them their failure, and 
then tell them plainly that you do not under- 
stand it. 

A good teacher will sometimes, "Yankee 
fashion," answer one question by asking an- 
other. Indeed we have better authority than 
our New England cousins for this ; the Savior 
did this very thing. " I will ask you one ques- 
tion." His teaching will furnish you with the 
finest example on record of the power of a well 
chosen question. 

4. Object Teaching. — The use of object les- 
sons is just beginning to be understood. Sun- 
day School teaching is being regenerated by 



34 THE SUKDAY SCHOOL HELPER. 

them. See some of the Savior's object lessons. 
He took a penny in his hand and taught a great 
lesson ; a dog under the table gathering crumbs 
served Him for another ; a man sowing seed ; a 
fisherman's net; a lily; a shepherd and his 
flock ; a grapevine ; a fruitless tree ; a wedding 
ceremony ; laborers in a field ; a woman 
making bread — all these were so many objects — 
whether all were present when mentioned or 
not, does not matter — by which he fastened in 
the mind the peculiarities of His kingdom. Es- 
pecially is the object lesson useful in primary 
classes, though the grown people will appre- 
ciate it too. 

To use object lessons, first determine upon a 
point or points of comparison between the pas- 
sage and some familiar thing. Then produce 
that object before the class, and point out the 
likeness or contrast between the lesson and ob- 
ject. The more familiar the object, as a rule, 
the better the lesson taught. This will not be 
true of " specimen" object lessons, of course, 
which it is necessary to introduce sometimes. 

As in the case of stories, the teacher should 
not use object lessons simply to please or enter- 



THE INFANT CLASS 35 

tain, but should always make entertainment 
the means of instruction and deeper impression. 

The catch- words with which the object teacher 
should be familiar are " as," " so," " like," 
"see," " behold," " liken unto," etc. These 
were found often on the Great Teacher's lips. 

The great system of infantile instruction 
known as the kinder-garten, is based on the 
power of object teaching. The great Froebel, 
who has been styled " the discoverer of child- 
hood," has seized this idea, and made it a bless- 
ing to the world. 



V.-THE INFANT CLASS. 



THIS class is thought of so much import- 
ance, that we devote a separate chapter to its 
teacher and its work. 

1. Get the best teacher in the school for this 
class. It is a fatal mistake to suppose that 
"just anybody will do to teach little children." 
It may do to put a class of well-taught grown 
people into the hands of an inferior person 



36 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL HELPER. 

when you are scarce of teachers ; but it will 
not do to thus impose on the little ones. Older 
people can somewhat defend themselves against 
the errors that may be made ; but little chil- 
dren are incapable of self-defense. If a bungler 
build the foundation, the house will fall, no 
difference how skillful a hand may build the 
walls. 

2. The Infant Class should study the same 
course of lessons taught in the other classes ; 
at least no good reason appears why they should 
not do so. It has been urged that the little ones 
can not be made to understand the lessons of 
the International series. There is occasionally 
one they cannot, and there is frequently one 
that none of us can fully understand. But this 
will depend almost entirely on their teacher. 
With one kind of teacher they will not under- 
stand any lesson ; with another kind they will 
get ample food out of every one. 

3. Make this class as much as possible a 
school within itself. Let it have its singing, 
prayers, roll-call, reports, etc., as though it were 
an independent thing. 

4. Have for it a good supply of simple 



THE INFANT CLASS. 37 

helps ; such as black-board, maps, lesson 
charts, objects for illustration, etc. 

5. Variety will be the teacher's secret of 
success. Don't do the same things over and 
over, and in the same order, week after week. 
A programme that is striking at first, will 
cease to strike after several repetitions. If 
you have this week a song, and then a prayer, 
and then a song, next week change the matter 
around, and have the prayer without any song, 
or put off the song till after the recitation. If 
this Sunday you sing the regular songs of the 
school, next Sunday have a new one ready to 
teach them — a lesson song, or something 
unusual. 

6. Have a fresh story for them. Read such 
books and papers as you know children axe 
interested in, and talk to them of what .you 
read. 

7. Help them to understand what they read, 
and select good reading for them. Some teach- 
ers once came to the writer saying, " Our 
scholars don't read the papers we give them ; 
we can not get them interested in them." We 
said, " Do you read the stories with them and 



38 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL HELPEB. 

talk about them? Do you ask them to tell 
what they have read during the week ? " ISTo, 
they did not. They tried it, however ; there 
was abundant interest taken in the papers. 
Many grown-up people do not know either 
what or how to read profitably. How can we 
expect little ones, except some one guide them ? 

8. Let the teacher of the infant-class feel 
that to her (I know few men-folks that teach 
infant-classes) is committed the most precious 
charge on this earth ; that in her hands are to 
a good extent the destinies of the precious 
children, and that before the Judge of all the 
earth an account must be rendered for her 
work. Understand your class. Study these 
words by W. P. Crafts : 

" The Sunday School teacher is sower, phy- 
sician and warrior, and needs to be very prac- 
tical in his work. A mixed mass of words 
even from the Bible, brought to a class as seed 
and scattered, without adaptation, in hearts 
that are thoughtful, and others that are care- 
less, and others that are hard, will not bear the 
hundred-fold harvest. The teacher needs not 
only faithful study of the seed in the Bible and 



THE TEACHERS' MEETING. 39 

lesson helps, but also a careful study of the 
soil in each scholar's mind and heart." 



VI.-THE TEACHERS' MEETING. 



FIRST, its purposes. 
(1.) Counsel about the affairs of the school. 

(2.) Teachers' Prayer Meeting. 

(3.) Study of the lesson. 

(4.) Interchange of methods. 

(5.) Unity of thought and effort. 
Some persons have thought the Teachers' 
Meeting unnecessary, from the fact that the 
teachers can study the lesson at home. This 
would have some force, if study were its only 
purpose. When, however, we come to see, as 
above stated, that other important features 
besides this enter into it, we will see at once 
that it is necessary for the teachers to meet 
together. All business matters should be ad- 
justed here, and not before the whole school. 
The teachers should learn from each other, 
how to teach. Some line of thought should 



40 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL HELPEE. 

be determined upon for each lesson, so that 
there will be unity in the teaching done. The 
teachers should spend a part of each meet- 
ing in united prayer, for themselves, for their 
scholars, for their work. 

2. How Conducted f Something after the 
following outline : 

Superintendent leading 

(1.) A very brief prayer. 

(2.) Study the lesson. 

(3.) Discussion of business items. 

(4.) Sometimes a song. 

(5.) Closing prayer by one appointed before 

hand ; short, without abruptness. 

This may be varied to suit occasions. The 
Superintendent should generally lead, but some- 
times he should appoint some one else. As 
much of your success will depend on the leader, 
get the best one possible. 

3. Where ? — No rule can be given. Some 
places it will be best to meet at a private house, 
others at the church. There are strong argu- 
ments in favor of the church as a meeting-place. 
It is always ready ; made on purpose ; private 
houses are not. The black-board is at the 



THE TEACHERS' MEETING. 41 

meeting-house ; it is very useful in such meet- 
ings. 

4. When f — As early in the week as possi- 
ble. You will then have all the week to make 
the things learned in the teachers' meeting, 
your own. 

An excellent way is for the teachers of a town 
to all meet and study the lesson together. Many 
such meetings are being held, with excellent 
results. Suffer a few words of caution. 

Don't allow any to attend but teachers, or 
those who are trying to fit themselves for teach- 
ers. Many a teachers' meeting has been spoiled 
by admitting everybody. 

Don't allow any debates. Of course, there 
will be differences of opinion, and this is all 
right. Allow an expression of opinion, but 
when this is done pass on. 

Don't allow the hobby-rider to bestride his 
hobby ; it is no place for hobbies. 

Don't allow the teachers' meeting to be turned 
into any other kind of meeting. 

Don't allow it to be made apart of any other 
meeting, nor in any way switched off from its 
work. 



42 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL HELPER. 

Don't make the session too long ; an hour is 
generally long enough. There will be strong 
temptation to extend the time, now and then ; 
do this only occasionally. Better all feel that 
the meeting was too short, than for one teacher 
to complain that it was too long. 

Two questions : Can country Sunday Schools 
have teachers' meetings ? We know places 
where they do have them, and successful ones, 
too. What is being done in one place may be 
done in another. How can city folks find time 
for such meetings ? Recognize Christ's claims 
on your time as you do the claims of society, 
pleasure and business, and you will make a 
time for all such things. Of course, when every 
claim is satisfied before the Lord's, we will 
have no time for his work. 

Without taking space for arguments in favor 
of teachers' meetings, we ask each one who has 
not done so to try it, and be convinced. 

Reader, fellow-worker, has your school such 
a meeting ? No ! Is it your fault ? Go to work 
at once and try to organize one. My word for 
it, nothing will so quickly lift your school out 
of its ruts and give new life as this. 



THE TEACHERS' MEETING. 43 

THE SUPPLY CLASS. 

Closely akin to the Teachers' Meeting, is 
the Teachers' Supply Class, commonly called 
the Normal Class. Its purpose, as is indicated, 
is to prepare teachers by means of a special 
course of stud}^, to take the places of those 
who naturally drop out in course of time. 

This class may meet at the time occupied by 
the main school. It should, if possible, have 
a separate room. Some one experienced as a 
teacher should be placed in charge. Some- 
thing like the following should be the subjects 
of its study : 

Sacred History. 

Sacred Literature. 

Bible Geography and Topography. 

Archaeology. 

Chronology. 

Oriental Manners. 

Bible Teachers and Teaching. 

History of Sunday School Work. 

How to Teach. 

Of course this class can not study the les- 
sons studied by the rest of the school. 

An effort should be made to induce its mem- 



44 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL HELPER. 

bers to pledge themselves to take charge of 
classes, whenever their services are needed. 

Should any school desire to organize such a 
class, much help may be obtained from certain 
small volumes, devoted to a course of Normal 
Lessons. There are several such published ; 
they can be obtained at almost any book- 
sellers. 



VII -TEACHERS' HELPS. 



FIKST. A Teacher's Bible. 
It is not enough that the teacher have ac- 
cess to a good supply of Bibles, that he may 
have one when needed, but each one should 
have a Bible of his own. The Bible now 
printed specially for Sunday School teachers 
meets a want long felt. Bound in the best 
style, and in convenient size, and containing 
together with the common version of the scrip- 
tures so much of useful information, it fur- 
nishes the teacher with a little library within 






45 

itself. We advise each teacher to buy one, 
and make it a life companion. A Bible thus 
used, will become like the face of a familiar 
friend in course of time. Its blank leaves 
(the more of these the better) will be filled with 
notes, and its margins will be running over 
with references — a kind of concordance that we 
can manage much better than we can Cruden's ; 
its passages will locate themselves in our 
minds as they appear on the page, and we can 
turn to them without knowing a thing of chap- 
ter and verse ; its precious promises will be 
underscored as the experiences of life render 
them real and necessary to our hearts ; the 
soiled and tear-spotted page will tell, when we 
are in heaven, of the struggles of a life that 
was inspired by the truth of God. By all 
means let each teacher have his oion Bible. 

2. A Teacher's Library. A few schools have 
these ; would that many more could be per- 
suaded to secure them. The time of the circu- 
lating library is about passed away. In its 
place there ought to be one for the teachers. 
Not a library of general reading, but one com- 
posed of a few standard books of reference. 



46 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL HELPER. 

Many of our teachers are poor and can not 
afford these ; and if they have them they are 
kept at home, and not to be come at when 
needed most. 

We will indicate a few books that should be 
in such a collection. 

Webster's Dictionary. 

A good Bible Dictionary. 

Clark's or Barnes 5 Commentary, or Lange's 
or some standard. 

The New Testament Commentary. 

Cruden's Concordance. 

A good Church History. 

These are mentioned simply to illustrate. 
Of course few schools will feel able to buy all 
these at once ; let a beginning be made, and 
then add to it as money can be raised for the 
purpose. This library should be kept at the 
meeting-house, and should be in charge of 
some responsible person. It would then be 
ready for use in the Teachers' meeting,, and 
also for ready refference during the recitation. 

3. Literature. Few Teachers read as much 
as they should of the proper kind of reading. 
Nothing will help the teacher more than this. 



47 

There are many publications now devoted to 
the teacher's work ; quarterlies, monthlies and 
weeklies ; they are very cheap, too, so that the 
teacher who is not abreast of the work being 
done in the great field is without excuse. A 
dollar or two a year, judiciously expended, 
will bring you a monthly or weekly Sunday 
School institute right into your home. Books 
on these subjects are being multiplied, so that 
" he that runs may read," and all may be in- 
formed if they will. If the time our teachers, 
many of them, spend in reading silly stories, 
were spent in a study of those papers and 
books which will prepare them for their work, 
we should hear of fewer teachers loosing inter- 
est and giving up the work. 

4. Teachers* Meetings, of which due men- 
tion has already been made. 

5. Sunday School Institutes, Conventions, 
etc. These ought to be attended every possible 
opportunity. They will be profitable in many 
ways ; much valuable information will be 
gleaned in regard to management, teaching, 
etc. ; teachers will, by becoming acquainted 
be made to feel a fellowship in their work, that 



48 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL HELPER. 

will nerve them for it. The stirring addresses 
usually heard at such times, fill our souls 
with holy enthusiasm, that will hearten us for 
all the struggles of oar toil. Attend such 
gatherings for benefit, and you are sure to re- 
ceive it. Though it has never been the writer's 
privilege to attend the Chautauqua gatherings, 
he doubts not their influence will be felt in 
eternity. Who of those teachers who gathered 
this year in the city of London, to do honor to 
the memory of Raikes, but will be a better 
teacher for the balance of life for having met 
and mingled with that company of Christian 
workers ? 

6. Let the teacher remember, that, after all, 
his strongest help must come from above. 
Therefore, let each one resolve, in the midst of 
labor, to "pray without ceasing." 



INTERNATIONAL LESSONS. 49 



VIII-INTERNATIONAL LESSONS. 



SO many questions are asked the practical 
Sunday School worker about this "uniform 
series of lessons, it is thought that a chapter 
devoted to them will be of profit. 

HISTORY OF THE SYSTEM. 

For the facts here stated we are largely in- 
debted to a little volume styled " The Lesson 
System ; The Story of its Origin and Inaugura- 
tion;" by Simeon Gilbert. 

Preliminary Steps. — The series did not spring 
into existence full grown. It had its germ idea 
and preliminary steps — its beginnings — some 
of them so small and obscure they are now lost 
sight of. 'Certain Boards of Missions, Tract 
Societies, Bible Societies, Home Missionary So- 
cieties, and the Evangelical Alliance had much 
to do in preparing the public to receive any- 
thing looking to uniformity of study and unity 
in effort. Mr. Gilbert, on this point, says : 
" These, and other similar associations, indicate 



50 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL HELPEE. 

the widening consciousness of Christian broth- 
erhood, and the deepening passion for unity, 
fellowship, co-operation, and concentration 
which, like spring-tide rivers when they over- 
flow the old channels and flood the valleys, 
make nearly invisible the petty hedge-rows of 
selfish isolation." 

As early as 1825, what was called the " Lim- 
ited Lesson Scheme " was published. In 1826, 
the New York Sunday School Union urged the 
general adoption of the " Selected Lessons." 
These lessons comprehended a five years' 
course, with forty lessons to the year, " the 
whole to include the principal facts and truths 
of the Bible." 

But the public mind was not, at the time this 
was done, prepared for the adoption of any uni- 
form series ; the workers were not numerous 
enough to carry the people with them ; or, if so, 
they did not know enough of each other to en- 
able them to work together. To bring them 
together, and teach them their and the country's 
needs, came the era of conventions, institutes, 
etc. Such men as Pardee, Vincent, and Ralph 
Wells were the moving spirits in these meet- 



INTERNATIONAL LESSONS. 51 

ings. Edward Eggieston was, at the same time, 
as editor of The Teacher, a vigorous worker. 
His paper was published in Chicago. It was 
started as the Sunday School Teacher's 
Quarterly" by J. H. Vincent, in the year 1865. 
It was afterwards changed to a monthly, with 
the name The Teacher. This paper pub- 
lished a series of lessons called " Two Years 
with Jesus," consisting of twenty-four les- 
sons for the year, two Sundays to be spent 
on a lesson. This was originated by Mr. 
Vincent and afterwards carried on by Mr. 
Eggieston, when he, after the paper had 
changed several times, finally became its ed- 
itor. ISTow came the decisive step which gave 
to the world a series of uniform lessons. Mr. 
B. F. Jacobs, of Chicago, in 1867, " seeing the 
striking fitness of the scheme of consecutive 
lessons, as stated by Mr. Vincent, and as still 
more fully developed by Mr. Eggieston, for the 
uniform use not only by all the classes in a 
school but equally for a variety of schools, 
went a step further. If good for all the classes 
in a school, and for all the schools of all de- 
nominations in a city, why not good for the 



52 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL HELPEK. 

schools of the whole country ?" u The conse- 
quence was, Mr. Jacobs became a missionary. 
He ' dreamed dreams ' and ' saw visions,' and 
the divinely awakened vision was that of the 
schools all over the country uniting in the 
same course of Bible lessons, but each school 
teaching the lessons in its own way, and each 
denomination affording the best helps it could 
for its own schools." In Chicago and the West, 
he advocated this idea with so much success 
that many schools adopted the system. u In 
January, 1869, he visited the East and urged 
the plan upon the Sunday School Times, and 
other leading papers of Boston, New York and 
Philadelphia." By the beginning of 1869, the 
series above mentioned was widely used both 
East and West. At the same time it should 
be remembered Dr. Vincent was publishing a 
series called the " Berean Series," in New York. 
This was for the use of his own denomination, 
while the sentiment in favor of uniform Bible 
study, was gaining strength gradually. The 
National Sunday School Convention met in 
Newark, N. J., in April, 1879. In this conven- 
tion there was manifested a fast growing senti- 



INTERNATIONAL LESSONS. 53 

ment in favor of uniform lessons. No formal 
action was taken, however, Mr. Jacobs fearing 
that the time had not come. At the meeting 
of the Executive Committee in New York, 
July 10, which had in hand arrangements for the 
Indianapolis Convention of 1872, a committee 
was appointed to select a National series of 
lessons. This committee failed to agree and 
so published. The committee was Edward 
Eggleston, J. H. Vincent, and H. C. McCook. 
Their disagreement was on the following day 
withdrawn from publication, and after much 
discussion a course of lessons was recom- 
mended. 

Final Adoption. — In April, 1872, the Na- 
tional Sunday School Convention met at Indi- 
anapolis. At this Convention, Mr. B. F. 
Jacobs offered the following resolution : 

Resolved : " That this Convention appoint a 
committee to consist of five clergymen and five 
laymen, to select a course of Bible lessons for 
a series of years, not to exceed seven, which 
shall as far as they may decide possible, em- 
brace a general study of the whole Bible ; 
alternating between the Old and New Testa- 



54 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL HELPEK. 

merits, semi-annually or quarterly as they 
shall deem best, and to publish a list of such 
lessons as fully as possible, and at least for 
two years next ensuing, as early as the first 
of August, 1872; and that this Convention 
recommend their adoption by the Sunday 
Schools of the whole country, and that this 
committee have power to fill any vacancies as 
they may occur in their number, by the reason 
of the inability of any member to attend." 

This resolution was adopted with great en- 
thusiasm, only ten persons voting against it. 
The Chair appointed a committee of five, which 
nominated the committee of ten contemplated 
in the resolution, and the uniform series of 
lessons was a fixture. To the Committee of 
ten there were added two from Canada. The 
system was soon adopted in Europe, and thus 
became " International." It has been in suc- 
cessful operation, now, a little over seven 
years. 

WHAT IT HAS ACCOMPLISHED. 

Though we should not judge anything hasti- 
ly, it is thought the International Series has 
been in use long enough for us to judge, to 



INTERNATIONAL LESSONS. 55 

some extent, at least, of its usefulness. The 
Savior's rule, " by tlieir fruits ye shall know 
them," will serve us. 

1. It has broken down, or is breaking 
down, party lines, and bringing the people who 
love God and try to serve Him, nearer together. 
Certainly, this of itself, is a result worth the 
seven }^ears of labor through which we have 
just come. Those who hate sects, should bless 
B. F. Jacobs and his labor of love. 

2. The past seven years have been years of 
unprecedented Bible study. Before this, peo- 
ple were studying and teaching either some 
favorite portions of the Bible, from which their 
peculiarities were supposed to be derived, or 
else their creeds and catechisms ; and no one 
supposes that all this has ceased yet or will in 
many da)^s yet to come ; but that the people 
have, as a rule, been doing more studying of 
the Bible itself, no one will, we think, try to 
deny. How we should praise the Lord for this ! 
It appears almost a prophecy that the conven- 
tion already referred to, in Indianapolis, on 
the adoption of Jacobs' resolution, should have 
sung : " Praise God from whom all blessings 
flow." 



56 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL HELPER. 

3. The amount of Bible study thus brought 
about has had a very fine effect on the pulpit 
of the country. Our ministers have found in 
the fact that these lessons are the subjects of 
so much concentrated thought, an inspiration 
to preach upon them ; and what preacher does 
not feel that his most useful sermons have been 
on some of the Sunday School lessons ? Thus 
has a new bond of sympathy been formed to 
bind the minister to the Church and to the 
children. 

4. As people grow in knowledge, other 
things being equal, they grow in grace. We 
need not be surprised that the increase of Bible 
knowledge resulting from the study of these 
lessons, has aroused in the church a new life 
of piety, and devotion to the cause of God. 

5. The " common people " study the Bible. 
It is not in the very remote past when nearly 
all these things were in the hands of the 
clergy. Not so now. "The people" study 
the Scriptures for themselves. 

6. A new and better class of religious 
literature has been begotten. New ideas have 
arisen as to what a Bible commentary should 



INTERNATIONAL LESSONS. 57 

be. Besides, a new world of magazine, week- 
ly, monthly and quarterly literature, has been 
created, by the adoption of these lessons. So 
that our homes, and the hands and hearts of 
our children are filled with good things. Even 
the service of song has participated in the 
benefit. 

ITS ABUSES. 

The International Lessons will not accom- 
plish every thing ; nay, nor will it, if abused, 
accomplish good at all. Like every other 
good thing with which the Lord has blessed 
the world, it has been greatly abused. A few 
of the more prominent abuses we will point 
out: 

1. It is an abuse to try to make it teach 
by itself. Many teachers imagine that having 
the lesson all wrought out for them, as it is on 
the lesson paper, they need no preparation. 
This ought to be corrected. 

2. It is a great abuse of it growing out of 
the way it is managed, to allow the lesson 
sheets to crowd out the the Bibles and Testa- 
ments from our schools. It will be replied that 
the lesson paper is not the series ; true, and 



58 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL HELPER. 

yet it seems to be a necessary accompaniment 
of it. We are in favor of not printing the 
passage to be studied, on the lesson slip at all. 
This will compel the use of the Bible in the 
school. 

3. It is an abuse to use the lesson papers in 
class, especially when it is done in the me- 
chanical way so common now. It may be 
better than nothing for a teacher to read ques- 
tions from a paper and have the answers read 
back at him again, but were we to go into the 
public secular school and find a teacher thus 
conducting a recitation in grammar or arith- 
metic, we would take steps at once to have him 
discharged. 

4. It is an abuse to study simply so many 
verses as are mentioned in the lessons, and no 
more. The committee selecting the lessons do 
not intend any such thing. It is expected that 
the chapters, or parts of chapters, between les- 
sons will be read and studied, and that thus a 
continuous chain of scripture thought will be 
kept before the class. The lessons have been 
charged with " scrapping " when really the 
scrapping has been done by the people using 
them. 



THE BLACKBOAKD. 59 

5. It is an abuse to pass over the lessons 
without reviews. To see the beauty of a sys- 
tem of study like this, it must be understood 
as a system, and not as detached fragrants 
thrown together without connection or cohe- 
rency. Many people seeing this abuse of it 
and thinking this a necessary part of the series 
itself, have become prejudiced against it. 



IX. THE BLACKBOARD. 



IT has not been very long since blackboards 
began to be used in secular schools. It was 
a long time after they were acknowledged to 
be of service in teaching arithmetic, grammar, 
geography and the like, before it was dreamed 
that they could be of any service in teaching 
the scriptures. When did the notion originate 
any how, that it takes a different process to 
teach the Bible from that employed in teaching 
other books ? Now, however, the blackboard 
has found its way into many Sunday Schools 



60 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL HELPER. 

and pulpits, and is being recognized as one of 
the indispensible aids in successful teaching. 
What should the blackboard be used for ? 

1. Outline Teaching. — By this is meant the 
presentation of the lesson, in a condensed form 
by means of some objective outline on the 
board. This should constitute the review. 

2. Making announcements. — One of the best 
ways we have ever tried to fix a meeting in the 
memories of old and young, is to write in big 
letters on the blackboard, time, place and 
purpose, and have all read it in concert. 

3. Eeports. — These should be so made that 
all will understand. In many cases the Secre- 
tary's report is read in the midst of such con- 
fusion, no one except those who will make a 
special effort can hear. Such reports do no 
good. To avoid this, let the summaries be put 
down on the board, and the attention of all 
called to them ; let them be read over till the 
whole school understands, then they will be of 
value as a working basis. Without a black- 
board this can not be done. 

4. As indicated in another place, the black- 
board may be made of great service in the 



THE BLACKBOARD. 61 

Teachers' Meeting. Let the lesson be analyzed 
on the board, and the points in the analysis 
written down and copied by all for nse at home 
and in the class. 

5. In the Pulpit. — The minister, if a wise 
one, will occasionally, at least, preach a black- 
board sermon ; and if he will handle it judi- 
ciously he will find his audience, both the old 
and the young, more attentive to this kind of 
sermon than to any other kind. 

We have been often confronted with the ob- 
jection : " We have no one in our school who is 
skillful in such things, and therefore we cannot 
make use of the blackboard." This, together 
with numerous questions we constantly hear, 
determines us to say, in this place, a few things 
briefly on 

HOW TO USE IT. 

1. Don't use it, or allow it to be used to dis- 
play any artistic skill that may happen to be 
found in the school. Such exhibitions as this 
have disgusted many with even the proper use 
of outline lessons. By all means, if you have 
some one skilled above others in the use of the 
crayon, put this work into his hands, but let 



62 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL HELPEB. 

him understand that his work is to make peo- 
ple see the lesson, and not himself. 

2. Don't wait to find an artist before you 
begin the use of the blackboard. Its use 
really does not require such a person. What 
is needed is to make the lesson so plain the 
people can see it, and it matters not whether 
the letters or lines by which this is done are 
very fine ones or not. The worst mistake pos- 
sible is to suppose we must not try to use the 
blackboard, unless we have some one who can 
make pictures. We shall have very few out- 
line lessons if we wait to be able to make 
pictures. Only now and then is there a school 
that has in it such talent. There is but one 
Frank Beard. Most people that can write, 
though, can make big letters so well that all 
can read them ; this is enough. 

3. In presenting an outline of a lesson, be 
sure to make it an outline, and not an exhaust- 
ive detail. The first lesson the author ever 
tried to put on the blackboard, he had a big 
board full to running over ; nearly every 
thought, great and small, in the whole lesson 
appeared there in some shape or another. It 



THE BLACKBOARD. 63 

was not long, however, till experience, itself, 
taught him that the proper thing was to put 
the lesson into as few words as possible — to 
boil it down — so that the eye can take it in at 
a glance. Sometimes one big word will be 
better than a dozen. 

4. But what shall I do, says one, if there 
is no one in the school who is able to thus boil 
down ; no one who has any inventive or crea- 
tive talent who will take hold of this ? In that 
case, take some good teacher's paper, in most 
of which there are outlines of the lessons, and 
copy them. 

Certain enterprising publishers are now 
giving us large outlines in perforated paper, 
to be transferred to the board ; also, pictures 
in colors are being printed. We have been 
asked many times whether these are useful. 
There are two things against them. They are 
expensive, and they frequently miss entirely 
the real thoughts of the passage. Still, they 
are not to be despised, and may with watchful- 
ness be made use of. 

Clearness of Thought. To show how the 
blackboard will induce clearness of tnought, 



64 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL HELPER. 

we beg the attention of the reader to the fol- 
lowing words by H. Clay Trumbull : 

" It is by no means a small advantage of the 
blackboard in the Sunday School that its use 
promotes clearness of thought and conciseness 
of statement on the Superintendent's part. It 
is difficult to use the blackboard — I speak of 
its use, not for picture making, but for the dis- 
play of sentences of truth — without having 
something to say and deciding how to say it. 
This, in itself, is a decided gain over the prac- 
tice of the average Superintendent in his 
remarks at the close of his school. 

" A great many ' idle words ' are spoken on 
the subject of religion in the Sunday School 
and in the prayer meeting, by those who feel 
it their duty to pray or talk, and who seek to 
discharge that duty without any very clear 
idea of what they are praying for or talking 
about. A critic of the ordinary church prayer 
meeting, has said that he would like the privi- 
lege of calling out in that assembly, as when 
a resolution is proposed in a legislative body, 
' will the gentleman reduce his proposition to 
writing?' It would puzzle many a good brother 



THE BLACKBOAKD. 65 

to put in writing even the main points in his 
talk or prayer in conference meeting or Sunday 
School. Both speech and prayer would gain 
in point and pith if this was anticipated and 
provided for." 

"It is just this call which the blackboard 
makes on the superintendent who would use 
it. It says to him, as he thinks of his school, 
and the needs of teachers and scholars, and 
the lesson of the day, « what are you thinking 
about ? What would you like to say ? Reduce 
your proposed remarks to writing.' Many a 
superintendent as he heeds this call, and takes 
the chalk in hand, finds he is thinking about 
a great many things in a general way, but 
about nothing in particular as of prime impor- 
tance. This is a good discovery for him — 
made in a good time. He has found it out be- 
fore his speech ; his school would have known 
it afterwards. The chalk saves him and the 
school too. A little mental exercise brings to 
him in clearness, a thought which he values. 
If he could now speak of that he would do 
better than before ; but not without some waste 
of words. He must take another step of pro- 



66 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL HELPER. 

gre&s ; his thought must be expressed in a sen- 
tence. When his chosen words are fairly on the 
blackboard, he has in them the substance of his 
best speech in its most telling form. The 
blackboard has its own extravagances and fol- 
lies to be guarded against ; but it has done 
much to bring the superintendents to know 
what they want to say to their schools about 
the lesson of the day, and how to say it." 

For the benefit of any who would like sug- 
gestive outlines, we present here a number of 
such. It will be seen that they relate to les- 
sons in the International Series. They were 
prepared by the author of this little work for 
the Parents and Teachers' Monthly. 



THE BLACKBOARD. 



67 



OUTLINE LESSONS. 



September 7. JJJg SAIHTS 



1 THE8S. 4: 13-18. 



SHALL, 



THE 

LORD 

WILL 



COME 



WITH HIM. 



From, Heaven 

With a Shout 

With the Trump of God. 

To Raise the Dead, 



COMING OF THE LORD. 




THE CHRISTIAN IN THE WORLD. 



68 



THE SUNDAY SCHOOL HELPER. 



September 21 . 



£3=*Let the person conduct- 
ing the review stand at the 
board and ask the school for 
the items of the li-sson to be 
written in the f blowing 
braces, or he may fill them 
himself beforehand. 



Titus 3: 1-19. 



VERSE 1-2 

WE SHOULD BE 



INSTEAD OF 



VERSE 3. 

WHAT WE ONCE WERE. 



FROM WHICH 



VERSE 4-7. 

WE WERE SAVED BY 



THE CHRISTIAN CITIZEN. 



Heb. IV : 14-1(5; v: J -6. 



MAN 



JESUS, SON. OF SS5 



OUR 



S« High Priest 



OUR GREAT HIGH PRIEST. 



THE BLACKBOARD. 



69 



Heb. ix : 1-12. 



TYPES iss- -TYPES. 



Let the leader make 
this outline on the 
board; then call out 
from the school a list 
of the types in the 
lesson and write them 
down. 



ANTI 



Then have the cor- 
responding Anti- 
Types mentioned and 
write them here. 



James ii: 14-26. 



HOT BY 



BY 



FAITHsr WORKS as. 



0KLY t 



MADE PERFECT. 



FAITH AND WORKS. 



1 Pet. ii : 19-25. 



AS 



(BUFFERING ° DERFECT 
AVIOR r 1 ATTERN 



70 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL HELPER. 



1 John i: 1-10. 



THE BLOOD OF GOD'S SON 



IF 

WE CONFESS 



HE 
FORGIVES. 



FOUNTAIN FOR SIN. 



A PERFECT SAVIOR. 



1 John iv: 7:16. 



GOD'S 
MAN' 
HAH'S 



i LOVE FOR sS 



LOVE OF THE FATHER. 



THE BLACKBOARD. 



71 



Key. i: 10-20. 



JESUS 



IN HIS 



GLORY 



FIX ST 

AND LAST 



WITH 
THE FATHER. 



THE GLORIFIED SAVIOR. 



Key v: 1-14. 



GODS Lamb 



WORTHY TO 



ECEIVE II"" FOREVER 



V. 



THE HEAVENLY SONG. 



72 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL HELPER. 



Rev. xxi : 21-27: xxn: 1-5. 



RIVER U 

TREES 



LIFE 



—TO— 

HEAL THE NATIONS. 

THE HEAVENLY CITY. 

Rev. xxii : 10-21. 



THE SPIRIT AND THE BRIDE) OAV 
LET HIM THAT HEARETH / SAY 
LET THE THIRSTY 
WHOSOEVER WILL MAY 

—AND— 



COME 



TAKE THE WATER OF LIFE. 



THE LAST WORDS. 



REVIEWS, AND HOW TO CONDUCT THEM. 73 



X.-REVIEWS, AND HOW TO CONDUCT THEM. 



IN another place, it was remarked that the In- 
ternational Lessons, to be seen in their 
beauty, and to be made useful in the school, 
should be frequently reviewed. It is proposed 
here to further notice this subject. 
There are several kinds of reviews. 

1. Teacher's class review. 

2. Weekly review of the school. 

3. Quarterly review. 

4. Annual examination. 

Each teacher should spend a few moments in 
a review of last Sunday's lesson before coming 
to the one in hand. This should not be a re- 
recitation of the lesson, but simply a gathering 
up of its main thoughts in a few words. 

The Superintendent should review the school, 
or appoint some one to do so at the close of 
each recitation. This will keep him informed 
as to the progress of the school, and the things 
needed to improve it. He should occupy in this 
about live to ten minutes time. He should use 



74 THE SUKDAY SCHOOL HELPER. 

the blackboard. It is the great condenser. It 
is hard to bring out the points of a lesson in 
live minutes, because so few know how to con- 
dense. Plenty of men can preach a sermon of 
an hour ; very few can make a live miuntes' talk. 
There must be no apologies, preliminaries, in- 
troductions, circumlocutions, nor perorations. 
Say what needs to be said and stop. In reviews 
come to the point the very first sentence, and 
stick to it to the last word. It is an excellent 
plan, instead of putting questions to the whole 
school, to frequently single out individuals and 
classes, and address the questions directly to 
them . It can thus be seen who is at work and who 
is not. The Superintendent will find out which 
teachers are inefficient, and need removing. 

The quarterly review serves as a hinge on 
which the school may be turned from one line 
of study to another, and still keep hold of both. 

The annual examination, should be made a 
prominent feature in the school's work. It 
should be made a big occasion. Public atten- 
tention should be directed to it. A whole day 
— sessions in forenoon, afternooon and night — 
should be devoted to it. Each class, if possi- 



SUNDAY SCHOOL WORSHIP. 



75 



ble, should be examined in regard to the year's 
work. If the lessons or any number of them 
can be arranged into concert exercises for old 
and young, this will be of interest. With 
proper service of song, recitation, and brief es- 
says, a community can be thoroughly aroused 
by such a day. We need more thoroughness 
in our Sunday School work, and nothing will 
induce this sooner or better than a judiciously 
conducted system of reviews. Make them 
short, pointed, frequent, searching, interesting, 
and there is no need to fear failure. 



XL SUNDAY SCHOOL WORSHIP. 



IT should be kept constantly in mind that the 
Sunday School is a place not only to store 
the mind with facts and principles, but that an 
important work for it to do besides, is the cul- 
ture in spiritual things of those enlisted in it. 
Its worship is designed for this, and hence, be- 
comes an important factor in its work. 

In many schools and churches, the worship 



76 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL HELPER. 

is not regarded as highly as it ought to be. It 
is spoken of as the " opening exercises," " clos- 
ing exercises," etc. The worship is regarded 
as a preliminary that must "be gotton through 
with in order that we may get at the real work 
of the day. We have heard even ministers 
say after two or three songs had been sung, 
"we will now begin the worship, &c," as 
though the songs had not been worship at all. 
Well, possibly not, but they should have been 
or else they should not have been sung. 

Many scholars and teachers feel that they 
have not committed any sin to stay away till 
after the worship is over. Members of the 
church will stand about the church door till 
the worship is done, or worse still, get seats 
convenient to congenial friends and talk it 
through. All this indicates to me that, our 
ideas in regard to worship are very vague and 
loose. 

The external acts by which we worship God 
are, 

1. Singing. 

2. Reading the Scriptures. 

3. Prayer. 



SUNDAY SCHOOL WOESHIP. 77 

We speak now of worship in the Sunday 
School. Of course in the congregation of the 
Lord there are other things prescribed to which 
we attend. The above items demand our at- 
tention separately. 

1. Singing. 

(1). The first thing to claim our thought 
is as to the kind of words we should use 
in a song. There is one word that will de- 
fine these to the satisfaction of all, and that is, 
Scriptural. We may not always be agreed 
as to the scripturalness of a song, but in most 
cases we can be. A scriptural song is one, the 
thought or the teaching of which, is found in 
the scriptures. It need not be always in scrip- 
ture words ; it is enough if it be derived from 
a scripture incident or thought, and teach 
scripture truth. There is, in the average Sun- 
day School singing book, a vast deal of abso- 
lute untruth taught. Great care should be 
exercised here, for the theory of Christianity 
fixed in the mind of a little child will generally 
be the theology of his after years, whether 
it be true or false. The words of our songs 
should be of such a nature as to give dignity 



78 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL HELPER. 

to religion, rather than much of the namby 
pamby nonsense we hear ; they should be cal- 
culated to keep onr holy faith from contempt 
in the eyes of people of sense. Care should 
be taken by song writers, to express thought 
clearly and strongly. The children gather 
very little meaning from many of the songs 
they sing, from the fact that the writers of 
them, write without a thought in their head, 
or else fail to make it plain. With many, so 
it rhymes, no matter whether it means any- 
thing or not, sound without sense, is accepted 
by little and big alike. 

(2). Tunes. What should these be? We 
unhesitatingly answer, that the tunes should 
be so simple that those who are cultured and 
those who are not, the old and the young, can 
learn them easily and sing them readily. We 
would correct some false conceptions of Sunday 
School music. Many people regard it as a 
kind of Sunday concert ; the little children are 
fast imbibing this notion. To make it enter- 
taining, the cultured singers must sing and 
the rest keep silent. For the same purpose the 
tunes must be of the elaborate kind. If it be 



SUNDAY SCHOOL WOESHIP. 79 

necessary to render them well, ungodly men 
and worldly women must be called in ; and to 
insure fine melody and harmony, selections 
are made without reference to words, so the 
tune is fine, and the whole thing dwindles 
down into a performance that should be 
assigned to the theatre, if, indeed, it should be 
endured in a christian land at all. We should 
be reminded that the things that fix themselves 
upon our children as habits in the Sunday 
School, they will bring with them into the 
church when they come, if they ever come at 
all. If there is any blunder now being made 
that is more serious than another, it is the in- 
difference of the church that allows the wor- 
ship of the Sunday School to unfit the minds 
and hearts of the children for true and just 
conceptions of the worship of the church. 
Better go back to the old hymns of our fathers 
than to allow mischief to be done in this 
wholesale way. 

Let no one suppose from the above, that we 
would discourage good music ; it is not good 
music we are speaking against, it is bad music 
that stirs our soul with indignation. It is a 



80 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL HELPER. 

mistake to suppose good music is incompatible 
with simplicity and dignity. Sometimes we 
would have quartetts, anthems, duets, solos, 
etc., but these should be the exception and not 
the rule. 

(3). Let all the people sing. Encourage the 
little ones to sing. We have been in many 
schools where the little ones were not expected 
to sing, and they knew it. They will generally 
sing well and enjoy it, too, more than their lit- 
tle tongues can tell, if they have a chance. In 
order that all may sing, it is necessary to 
furnish all with singing books. The school 
should own the books itself, and not allow them 
to be scattered. In most schools and churches 
the supply of books is not at all adequate to 
the needs, the result of which is that few par- 
ticipate and the singing is bad. Those who 
cannot sing should be induced to give attention, 
that in heart they, too, may join in the worship. 

(4). Songs should be both in word and tune 
appropriate. Some songs are general and will 
fit almost any occasion when people worship ; 
many others are special, and will fit only a few 
kinds of circumstances. Don't sing, "Always 




SUNDAY SCHOOL WOKSHIP. 81 

Cheerful," at a funeral, nor " Come, Ye Dis- 
consolate," at a wedding. Don't sing "The 
Morning Light Is Breaking," at 9 o'clock at 
night, nor, 

" We lay our garments by, 
Upon our beds to rest," 
at morning service. Let there be a fitness be- 
tween the lesson, the occasion, and the song. To 
secure this, the leader must, figuratively speak- 
ing, treat his singing book like the little book in 
Revelation was treated — he must eat it — he 
must know it thoroughly. What a happy turn 
we have all seen given a public meeting by an 
appropriate selection of a hymn ; on the other 
hand, who has not seen the best of lessons or 
sermons spoiled completely by an unfortunate, 
inappropriate song. 

(5.) The singing should be done in a spirited 
manner. Dragging, lifeless songs will minister 
to spiritual death rather than spiritual life. 
Encourage all to sing heartily and earnestly, 

Let the song service be a solemn service. 
Too many times it is anything else. Impress 
upon all minds that the singing is unto God, 
and not merely for our own pleasure or the en- 
tertainment of others. 



82 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL HELPER. 

Urge constantly the importance of a care- 
ful attention to the meaning of the words. 
Whatever prevents this attention, prevents sin- 
cerity, prevents worship. Formalism is the 
worst, probably, of all the " isms ; " let us so 
manage our Sunday School singing that it will 
not "have a form of godliness, but deny the 
power thereof." 

#. Reading the Scriptures. — There are three 
ways of reading the Scriptures in Sunday 
School : 

(1.) By the leader. 

(2.) Alternate. 

(3.) Concert. 

Either of these may be employed according 
to circumstances. A good deal of care is nec- 
essary to make the alternate or concert read- 
ing successful. A few will read and the rest 
will pay no attention. "How many of your 
scholars and teachers read with you," we once 
asked a superintendent. He thought nearly 
all. The following Sunday we counted, and 
found, out of a school of between eighty and a 
hundred, fifteen persons reading ; and yet they 
made noise enough to cause him to think the 



SUNDAY SCHOOL WORSHIP. 83 

whole school was reading. The reading that 
is called " concert " is often anything else than 
concert; it is frequently such a jumble you 
imagine yourself back at Pentecost listening 
to " Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and 
the dwellers in Messopotamia," all at once. 
The only thing to prevent this, is careful train- 
ing. Unless this can be had, it will be much 
better for the superintendent to read the scrip- 
tures while all follow and pay attention. 
Whatever method is employed it is important 
to observe the following suggestions : 

(1). Select an appropriate lesson. Common- 
ly the lesson for the day will be the proper 
one. Frequently, however, this will be of a 
nature not the best suited to be read in wor- 
ship — a history, say— in which case it may be 
better to select some other passage which is 
more devotional ; or it may be that there is 
something peculiar in the events of the past 
week, or the circumstances of the day, that 
will call for a special passage. At any rate,, 
see that there is not a glaring incongruity be- 
tween the occasion and the reading. 

(2). Let the reading be brief; from ten to 



84 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL HELPER. 

twenty verses will be ample ; let this compre- 
hend a thought or a group of thoughts, that 
will make a complete lesson within itself. The 
old idea, that when once we are started we 
must go on " to the end of the chapter," no 
difference if it be the one hundred and nine- 
teenth Psalm, is fast losing ground, and we 
rejoice in the fact with exceeding great joy. 

(3). Exercise care in the selection of a 
passage. It is almost irreverent to rush in on 
the moment, snatch up the Bible, and bluster 
through the first passage your eyes light upon. 
Select your reading beforehand and read it 
over and get into the spirit of it, at least get 
your thoughts upon it so you will be able to 
read it correctly. 

(4). Secure, if possible, the attention of all 
to the reading. Put Bibles (not merely lesson 
papers) into everybody's hands. Induce them 
to follow the reading with the eye, that they 
may the better follow it with the mind. 

It is common for people to laugh and talk 
during public worship, especially while the 
Scriptures are being read. This is in bad taste, 
not to say actually sinful. It is done thought- 



SUNDAY SCHOOL WOKSHIP. 85 

lessly many times ; therefore let attention be 
called to the matter so frequently, that all the 
people will form the habit of attending while 
God speaks. 

3. Prayer. Were we able and inclined to 
write an exhaustive treatise on prayer, this is 
not the place for it. It is only designed in this 
place to say a few things intended to make 
this part of our worship of more practical 
benefit, and more to edification, both to those 
who pray, and those who listen. 

(1). First, then, let prayers in Sunday School 
be short ; indeed, they should not be over long 
anywhere. No exact limit can be given; we 
can not say a prayer should be just so many 
minutes long and no longer. Without fixing 
any limit, though, all will understand. A 
prayer, to edify the little children, must not be 
tedious. This is one reason the little ones are 
listless during prayer. They lose the power of 
endurance long before the prayer is done, and 
of course cease to listen. 

(2). Sunday School prayers, as well as others, 
should be special. Generalities, though they 
be " glittering " ones, will not chain the atten- 



86 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL HELPER. 

tion nor touch the heart. The Bible prayers 
are special. Men had need of something, or 
their friends did, and they asked God for it. 
Take a few examples: Abraham's servant 
prayed for success in his mission, when seeking 
a wife for Isaac ; the Apostles when casting 
lots ; Hannah for a son ; Hezekiah when dan- 
gerously sick ; Jesus in Gethsemane, for His 
murderers ; Jonah for deliverance from the fish ; 
the Publican's prayer for mercy. All these, 
and many others, grew, not out of the idea that 
the day or hour of prayer had rolled round and 
they must pray, but out of a keenly-felt need. 
As the hungry body craves meat, so the hungry 
soul calls upon God. We may go through a 
form of prayer, but we do not really pray till 
all feel the need of Divine grace and strength ; 
then we will ask for it truly and sincerely. We 
should live, therefore, in the constant realiza- 
tion of our needs before we are ready to " pray 
without ceasing." The one who leads the Sun- 
day School in prayer should try to realize the 
special needs of that occasion, and the people 
then before him, and pray in view of these. Is 
there a scholar detained at home by sickness ? 



SUNDAY SCHOOL WOESHIP. 87 

Let the absent one be remembered by name, 
and be assured every little ear will be open, and 
every little heart will say " Amen " to that 
prayer. 

(3.) Use simple language in prayer. Any 
effort to use fine words, striking expressions, or 
beautiful sentences, just for the sound of them, 
is a great weakness, to say the least of it. Use 
the language, not of theology, but of faith and 
of childhood. They will understand you then, 
and they will love to listen ; and their hearts 
will be lifted up to the throne of God. And more, 
God will listen to an honest prayer coming from 
so many honest hearts ; and He will come into 
your midst, and the place and the work will be 
glorified by the presence of the Almighty One. 
He delights to have His children speak to Him, 
and He will not turn away His ear. Let no one 
dare indulge in speech-making to the Lord. It 
is an offense. 

(4). Pray in faith, and in harmony with 
the promises of God. Teach the little ones to be- 
lieve that a prayer coming in simplicity from 
an honest heart, full of faith, and in harmony 
with God's word, will be heard in heaven and 



88 THE SUKDAY SCHOOL HELPER. 

answered by Him who sitteth on the throne. 
With such a faith, they are prepared for all 
the issues of life. 

The philosophy of prayer and its answer, of 
special and general providence, we do not pre- 
tend to understand, nor is it necessary for us 
to do so, to either pray or live right. The 
highest type of Christian, is the man of faith. 
Many questions might be raised here as to the 
nature of prayer and its answer; not many of 
these should be discussed before a Sunday 
School class of little children. It is enough to 
teach them what the Bible says about faith 
and duty. It is a duty to pray as well as a 
privilege ; let us teach them how to perform it. 



OTHER HELP. 89 



XIL-OTHER HELP. 



IN addition to the helps that have already 
been discussed under the various heads, it 
is necessary to call the workers' attention to 
some others. These will all be put under this 
head, Other Helps. The first of these is 

GEOGRAPHY AND TOPOGRAPHY. 

1. Geography. It will be remembered that 
under the head of Connections, the geographi- 
cal connection was mentioned as an important 
one. It is no less so to the school than to the 
teacher. No history can be well learned until 
the learner knows something of the country in 
which its events transpired. The Bible being 
a history to a very large extent, it becomes 
necessary for the Bible student to have some 
knowledge of what is termed the Holy Land, 
before he is prepared to understand it. 

We indicate something of an outline of what 
we should learn about this land. 
(1). Its boundaries. 



90 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL HELPEK. 

(2). Natural divisions. 

(3). Political divisions and the changes 
that have occurred. 

(4). Rivers, lakes, seas, etc. 

(5). Mountains. 

(6). Cities, towns, distances and relative 
positions. 

(7). Climate, soil, products. 

(8). Progress or retrogression. 

(9). Commerce. 
(10). Population (comparative). 
(11). Animal life. 

To further indicate the necessity of Sacred 
Geography to the Sunday School, we transcribe 
a few lines from Coleman's Historical Atlas : 

" Thus History and Geography are insepara- 
bly associated together, and should ever be 
studied in connection. Each by association, 
lends new interest to the other ; and both are 
learned with more ease than either when stud- 
ied separately. Read with careful reference 
to geographical and chronological data, located 
in time as in history, and in space as in 
geography, the events of the past traced upon 
chart and map, the shifting scenes of the nar- 



OTHER HELP. 91 

rative and what was before insipid and 
profitless, becomes, like the 'expressive canvass' 
and the ' speaking marble,' instinct with life 
and spirit. What was crowded in confusion 
upon the mind, spreads out in distinct and 
beautiful perspective, leaving an impression, 
clear and abiding as the landscape of the 
painter." 

2. TopoyrapTiy. This word as generally 
used, means the description of particular 
places, as cities, towns, villages. We might 
call it geography on a smaller scale. There 
are many cities and delineations of city life in 
the Bible ; indeed, nearly all the people lived 
in Bible times, in cities. There was little coun- 
try life. All these towns and cities therefore, 
have a peculiar interest attached to them. 
What earnest Bible student does not desire to 
know all he possibly can about these places 
that have been hallowed by the revelations of 
God, and blessed by the footsteps of His Son. 
In studying a city, the student should learn 
among other things, something of the follow- 
ing items : 

(1). When and by whom founded. 



92 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL HELPER. 

(2). Significance of its name. 

(3). Size, (comparative). 

(4). Boundaries. 

(5). Walls and Gates. 

(6). Streets. 

(7). Style of Architecture. 

(8). Public Buildings. 

(9). Water Supply. 
(10). Trade. 

(11). Religion of its people, now and here- 
tofore. 

(12). Educational Institutions. 

(13). Leading characters. 

(14). To what government tributary. 

(15). Amusements. 

(16). Social life of the people. 

These two subjects may be taught in the fol- 
lowing ways : 

1. By Special Lectures. Almost any school 
can once a year induce some man who has 
either traveled in these countries, or who has 
given them special attention to give its scholars 
and teachers a few lectures on these subjects : 
even if it costs something it will pay. 

2. Constant Reference. By this is meant 



OTHER HELP. 93 

the study of the geography of each passage as 
it comes. No teacher should pass over any 
geographical or topographical point, till he has 
learned and taught the class all he possibly 
can find out about it. In the superintendent's 
review this should receive constant attention. 

3. The reading by scholar and teacher of 
books of travel and whatever will throw light 
on such matters. It will add great interest to 
your work to be engaged in a common work of 
self improvement. 

No Sunday School should think of trying to 
get along without an outfit of first-class maps 
and charts with which to teach and illustrate 
the Bible in the light of its geography and to- 
pography. 

This study of these subjects should be kept 
up from year to year among great and small. 

MONEY. 

While an inordinate love for money is a 
great hindrance to the spiritual life, it is on 
the other hand, a great help, to any enterprise, 
when properly employed. 

What need has a Sunday School to raise 
money ? 



94 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL HELPEK. 

1. To keep itself supplied with other things 
essential to successful work. 

2. Missionary Work. The Sunday School 
is in its very nature a missionary work, and as 
such should be kept in active sympathy with 
the missionary enterprises of the church. 
Much has been realized to this cause from the 
penny contributions of the Sunday School that 
would otherwise have been lost. 

3. But the best reason for encouraging sys- 
tematic giving is seen in its reflex influence upon 
the scholars themselves. " It is more blessed 
to give than to receive." It will bless the souls 
of little children to train them in benevolence. 
It will lift them out of self, and give them an 
interest in mankind to be allowed to give for the 
good of others. This is a kind of culture that 
no child should be allowed to grow up without. 

The habit of giving, formed in childhood, 
will show itself in after years. The children 
who are trained to systematic giving while 
children, will continue the habit when they 
become members of the church. Thus will be 
solved one of the most troublous questions we 
have to meet— -how to develop a liberal spirit 
in the church. 



OTHEE HELP. 95 

The school should be taught to look after 
the poor and the distressed, and thus keep up 
a lively sympathy with the suffering in its own 
bounds. 

How to raise money is one of the vexed 
points in the experience of my fellow- workers. 
A few remarks on this point will perhaps be 
of help. 

Don't beg money. The whole system of 
religious begging, from the barefooted monk, 
or the hooded nun, down to the juvenile beg- 
ging committee, is a disgrace to the cause of 
religion. 

Don't depend on outsiders for money to run 
the school. It is a poor showing, when those 
who profess to believe in the work, will, instead 
of supporting it, undertake to get money for 
this purpose from those who do not care one 
penny for it. 

Don't adopt questionable ways of raising 
money, even among the friends of the school. 
We believe the whole system of lotteries, raf- 
fles, etc., to be productive of mischief. How 
can we expect our boys to abstain from the 
appearance of evil, when, in the name of 



96 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL HELPER. 

religion, we teach them to gamble? How 
may we expect our daughters to grow up 
with becoming modesty, when their personal 
charms are put up for public admiration, and 
passed upon by the rabble at five cents a 
vote? The devil is in this; beware of him; 
he may not show himself speedily, but you 
will see him by-and-by. 

Another way of raising money is by suppers, 
festivals, etc. What shall be said of these! 
We unhesitatingly advise that they be not used 
to raise money. While we do not class a sim- 
ple supper, where a reasonable price is paid for 
an honest meal, with the raffle or the fair, and 
while we are ready to accord to those who gen- 
erally manage them the best of motives, still 
the principle upon which money is thus raised 
is wrong. The idea of feeding the stomach to 
reach the purse for the cause of Christ, is not 
the unselfish spiritual idea that should be cul- 
tivated in all our benevolent enterprises. Peo- 
ple constantly ask: "Where's the harm?" 
Right here is the harm ; it robs those who en- 
gage in it of the blessing, which is one of the 
Savior's richest bequests to the unselfish giver. 






OTHER HELP. 97 

Perhaps it will be more difficult to tell how 
to give, than it has been to tell how not to give ; 
but we will try. 

1. Encourage all to give something. Even the 
poor can give a little; there may be exceptions, 
but they are very few. 

2. Let the giving be regular. One of the main 
purposes is to form the habit. Every Sunday 
should be the rule. 

3. Let the giving be as unselfish as possible. 
Eewards are not, when properly distributed, 
wrong ; but it is doubtful if any reward should 
be given for so much money. 

4. As to the best way of taking up the con- 
tribution, a variety of ways have been employed. 
Any way that will collect the money with the 
least friction is the best. The way to secure 
this is for the teacher to take up the contribu- 
tion before the recitation, place it in an envel- 
ope, write the amount, name, or number of the 
class on it, and when the bell rings pass it to 
the Secretary, who, at a glance, can enter the 
necessary facts in his report. 

Make a weekly, quarterly and annual report 
of all money, and how it has been disbursed. 



98 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL HELPEK. 

Any institution that has much to do with money 
is liable to get the spirit of the world along 
with its money matters. We cannot better 
close this subject than by the word of caution : 
Let the subject of money be so mentioned as 
to give the children an idea of the proper use 
of it, so that they will be trained to understand 
the great sin of covetousness. 



XIII -CHILDRENS' MEETINGS. 



THESE are commonly spoken of as Sunday 
School Concerts. We object to that name 
because, in the first place they are not concerts 
at all, and in the second place, the less the 
Sunday School has to do with the concert busi- 
ness and with its worldliness, the better off it 
will be, and the greater blessing it will prove 
itself to the church of Christ. 

The Children's Meeting is a most excellent 
thing. Here are some of its uses : 

1. It will give the little folks more interest 
in the church. For the minister to preach a 



CHILDRENS' MEETINGS. 99 

sermon specially to them in the main audience 
room of the meeting house, with songs of their 
own and everything for their enjoyment, is an 
indication to them that the church thinks of 
them and is willing to do something for their 
happiness. 

2. It will give the church greater interest in 
the school and in its work ; a stronger bond of 
sympathy will be formed between the two. 

3. It will afford the minister the opportunity 
to speak directly and simply to the children, 
as well as to the church, and thus he will be 
enabled to bring the scholars to Christ. 

4. Frequent Childrens' Meetings afford a 
most excellent way of keeping the school and 
its work before the community ; many persons 
will attend them who do not go to the regular 
services of the church. By skillful notices 
and announcements at the Childrens' Meeting 
such persons can be brought to the regular 
sessions of the school, and thus gradually won 
to the Lord. 

5. Mass meetings of this kind generate en- 
thusiasm in the work, which without enthu- 
siasm will be a failure. Large numbers en- 



100 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL HELPER. 

gaged in the same enterprise coming together 
and spending a happy time in each other's 
company, will go to their work doubly in 
earnest. 

Childrens' Meetings should be held at some 
stated times, say once a month, or once a quar- 
ter. Enough attention should be paid to their 
regularity to put all hands into expectancy; 
to get all the people to looking forward with 
bright anticipations from one time to the next. 

The tact of the teachers, superintendent and 
preacher, must serve to point out the methods 
of holding them. As a rule, no two should be 
held alike in succession. There should be a con- 
stant invention of methods adapted to the 
wants of various localities. We used, a long 
time ago, to look into the papers for " concert 
exercises," hoping to find something made to 
hand, but we never found it. These " exer- 
cises " were always a disappointment. They 
might fit some where but they would not fit our 
school. We had to fall back on our own 
resources, and generally made up a programme 
that, while it would not have made a great 
show in a book or on paper, would serve the 
purpose better. 



CHILDRESS' MEETINGS. 101 

Occasionally, there should be nothing but a 
a few lively songs, and a sermon. Let such a 
sermon be short, simple, direct, earnest and 
honest. Do as a certain preacher did who an- 
nounced that he intended, First, to begin; 
Second, to proceed, and Third, to quit. No in- 
troductions, and no perorations. Just a few 
simple, truthful words to the children — that's 
all there is of a children's sermon. 

Here is a paragraph from the Sunday School 
Times that will be suggestive in regard to the 
conduct of the Children's Meeting : 

" Among the simpler methods of recitation 
in the ' Sunday School Concert,' is the giving of 
texts, beginning with a designated letter of the 
alphabet, or containing 'a designated word, or 
on a designated general topic. The subject of 
the ' concert ' is announced beforehand and each 
person present is expected to repeat a Bible text 
within the limits of that subject. Bible char- 
acters, Bible localities, Bible narratives, and 
Bible doctrines, are named for illustration or 
proof by appropriate texts. The godly men or 
godly women of the Bible; the good kings, 
the good prophets, the good children, or the 



102 THE SUJSTDAY SCHOOL HELPER. 

bad ones ; the lakes, the rivers, the mountains, 
the valleys, the cities, the trees and the flowers 
of the Bible ; the fall of Man and its conse- 
quences; the plan of Salvation and its sub- 
jects ; the tabernacle and its teachings ; the 
Commandments and their illustration; the 
prayers, the covenants, the buildings, the let- 
ters and letter writers ; the blessings and the 
curses, the invitations and the promises of the 
Bible, are among the many themes chosen for 
miscellaneous ' concert ' recitations, where all 
can take part without special assignment. But 
a better method than this is the assignment in 
advance of 'particular departments of a subject 
to different sections, or classes or individuals, 
for text recitations, so that all shall combine 
to illustrate and enforce a common topic with 
force and symmetry. In this way the chief 
benefits of the modern ' concert' indeed the 
Bible reading and the ' Sunday School concert' 
recitation in its best form have much in com- 
mon, and preparation for the two can be used 
interchangeably, as a reading or a recitation is 
preferred." 

Quarterly reviews and annual examinations 



CHILDKE^S' MEETINGS. 103 

may be interwoven with the Childrens' Meet- 
ing programme, with much profit. The mis- 
sionary spirit may be cultivated by the arrange- 
ment of exercises bearing upon this subject. 
Indeed, almost anything you desire to impress 
upon the mind may be made the subject, of an 
exercise or lesson for a Childrens 5 Meeting. 
To do this will demand the exercise of tact on 
the part of the leaders, but once one gets a 
start at such things, and especially when he 
gets hold of the true idea that extreme sim- 
plicity, is the one thing to be sought after, it 
will not be near so hard to manage as most 
persons suppose. 

The great curse of such occasions is " gush." 
The Sunday School "talker" is sure to be 
there; and the first time "little talks" are 
called for, he will be before the " dear children" 
with his little speech that has been repeated so 
many times that the memory of man runneth 
not to the contrary ; the repetition would not 
be so bad if the speech were anything better 
than gush. Guard against him. Kill him off. 
Choke him down. Ring him to his seat though 
you have to break the bell to do it. We are 



104 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL HELPER. 

greatly mistaken when we suppose little chil- 
dren are deceived by such stuff. To use a boys 
expression it is " too thin " to blind them. 

Generally, the minister will have to take the 
lead in such matters ; at least he must give his 
hearty cooperation and earnest help. He can 
not afford not to be identified with such things 
for to be a leader in them is to gain the affec- 
tions and confidence of the scholars, and to do 
this, every minister should try constantly and 
diligently. 



XIV-THE HOME AND SUNDAY SCHOOL. 



IS there any danger, as is sometimes more 
than hinted, that Sunday Schools will make 
parents negligent in teaching and training their 
children in the Scriptures. 

There may be such danger in reality, but 
our conviction is, that the most of it is imag- 
inary. Our observation has been, that the 
home in which there is most attention paid to 



THE HOME ATSTD SUNDAY SCHOOL. 105 

the school, there is most attention paid to fam- 
ily training. On the other hand, the very 
people who neglect the school are the ones who 
neglect religion in the family. The Sunday 
School has been one of the most potent helps 
ever sent to the assistance of parents in rear- 
ing their children ; at least so we think. 

It has introduced Bible study into the family. 
The mother who would not ordinarily take 
time without some special reason to teach her 
little boy or girl a lesson in the Scriptures, 
will drop everything when the little fellows 
clamor for mamma to teach them their Sunday 
School lesson, and such a time as they will 
have over the Bible story and the lesson 
paper and the blackboard outline thereon. 
That mother will sow a seed that shall be a 
fruitful tree transplanted into the Paradise of 
God to bear fruit forever. 

From the Sunday School there has come a 
class of bright, pure literature to bless the 
home and assist the parents in their efforts to 
lead their little ones into the ways of purity 
and truth. We went into a home not long since 
where few entertaining books and papers ever 



106 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL HELPER. 

found their way. The little children came from 
Sunday School. As they lived in the country 
far away from the church, they had not been 
permitted to go there for a long time. One 
precious day, however, had been vouchsafed to 
them, and now they come home, and the first 
exclamation was " mamma! see the beautiful 
papers they gave us to bring home." Ah ! if 
the heart of him who wrote the stories con- 
tained in those papers was a consecrated one, 
here is a home into which he has sent a ray 
of sunshine, which shall grow brighter and 
brighter forever. The good books and papers ; 
the good stories and lessons that have silently 
stolen into our homes from the Sunday School, 
have taken their stand like good angels at our 
doors, and are helping us to drive out the 
destroying messenger that seeks in the shape 
of an impure literature, to despoil the hearts 
of our children. We are willing to grant, that 
much of the Sunday School literature is 
trifling and weak, and that some of it is 
absolutely poisonous ; but a large proportion 
of it is calculated to entertain and benefit. 
4nd then it should not be forgotten that there 



THE HOME AND SUNDAY SCHOOL. 107 

has been and is now in progress a wonderful 
improvement in this class of reading. Let us 
bless the day that saw consecrated to this class 
of writing some of the brightest intellects of 
our age. The man or the woman who writes 
the things that entertain my children and 
purify their hearts, deserves, and shall receive 
my warmest gratitude. 

We should remember also, that the Sunday 
School sustains a relation to many homes, the 
parents in which are not Christians. How 
many of such unchristian homes have been 
evangelized by the little ones who first found 
their way into the class of some faithful teach- 
er, the Lord only can number. Multitudes of 
prayerless homes have thus been made vocal 
with the praise of God; and thousands of 
parents rejoice in salvation's hopes to-day who 
were first led to follow the toddling feet of their 
little children to the house of God. 

What can be done in Christian homes to 
help the children and the faithful teachers 
who have them in charge ? 

We can pray for them. They have a claim 
on us. No one feels the need of sympathy and 



108 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL HELPER. 

help more than the teacher. To know that 
parents are anxious for them to succeed, anx- 
ious enough to make their work a subject of 
prayer, will give new courage and strength to 
these humble toilers. Pray, then, that those 
who have in charge your precious children may 
be guided by heavenly wisdom in their efforts 
to help you rear them for usefulness on earth, 
and for heaven at last. 

We can help the children in preparing their 
lessons, and thus do much towards the success- 
ful work of the teachers. The children in 
most of well regulated families have regular 
study hours, for the study of the lessons of the 
day school. Why could there not just as well 
be set apart an evening in the week when all 
the family shall study the Sunday School les- 
son ? Parents should not allow themselves to 
turn this whole matter over into the hands of 
others. They should not only be glad to help, 
but they should also supervise the work done, 
and thus satisfy themselves that it is being 
well done. 

In the family at home is the place to put into 
daily practice those things that are taught in 
the school on Sunday. 



THE STUDY OF CHILDHOOD. 109 

Let parents see that the school receives ma- 
terial support. Do not allow it to become a 
beggar. Give through the children, of your 
money to support it. 

If parents would do but a half of their duty 
in seconding the efforts of those who teach 
their children in carrying on to its full fruition 
the work begun in the school, the complaint 
that the Sunday School interferes with family 
training would be forever hushed. 



XV -THE STUDY OF CHILDHOOD. 



WF. CRAFTS calls childhood the "Text- 
. book of the Age ;" and this book is be- 
ing studied now as it has never been before ; 
more attention is being paid to it than in any 
age of the world. More books are being writ- 
ten for little children ; more papers are being 
published for them; more provision is being 
made for their entertainment and instruction 
than at any time in the history of the race. 



110 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL HELPER. 

Not only Christianity has been turned in the 
direction of childhood, but every phase of our 
social and moral affairs has participated in the 
results of the opening of the long closed book 
of childhood ; so that the prophetic declara- 
tion, " a little child shall lead them " is being 
fulfilled before our eyes. The hearts of the 
fathers are now turned to the children. 

We should be careful to give the credit of 
this great movement to the right one. Who 
has taught the people the true worth of child- 
hood and the importance of child culture ? Has 
Infidelity? Has Science? Has Philosophy? 
We shall search long before we find in these 
even the smallest seeds from which to grow 
such a plant. The Bible has been our book, 
and Jesus and the Apostles and prophets have 
been our teachers. With the recovery of the 
Bible has come the discovery of childhood. 
The person who has not thought of it before 
will be both surprised and delighted to find in 
the word of God, the seed from which has 
sprung every good work now being done among 
little children. Reader, have you ever noticed 
how much attention inspired writers paid to 



THE STUDY OF CHILDHOOD. Ill 

children ? Take the following list of passages ; 

Gen. 18 : 16-19 ; Deut. 6 : 4-9 ; 1 Sam. 2 : 12 : 
3:11-14; 1:26-28; 2:26; Ezra 10:1 ; Matt. 19: 
13-15; Eph. 6:4; 2 Tim. 1:5; 3:15. 

These are not a tithe of the places in the Bible 
where the value of child culture is inculcated. 
That book which thoroughly furnishes the man 
of God for every good work, does not leave him 
unsupplied for work among the children ; but 
furnishes line upon line, and precept upon pre- 
cept for his guidance. 

The statesman should study childhood, for 
only as he understands it can he frame laws or 
direct the affairs of his country, so as to meet 
the demands of the generation of men and 
women now in the nursery. The moralist 
should study it because he can not meet the 
great moral issues of the day, save as he un- 
derstands them, and takes hold of them in the 
light of the lessons of this living book. The 
philosopher must study it, because all his the- 
ories of life will be impractical and vague that 
do not take into the account the opening minds 
and growing bodies of the little children. The 
preacher of the gospel should study childhood 



112 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL HELPER. 

because otherwise he will not be able to preach 
to the world a Savior who said " Suffer little 
children to come unto me and forbid them not, 
for of such is the kingdom of heaven." He 
will never know how to deal with ambitious 
and wicked men, save as he is able to set a 
little child in the midst of them and say, " ex- 
cept ye be converted and become as this little 
child, ye can not enter into the kingdom of 
God." 

Especially is it necessary that the Christian 
teacher should understand children. Benja- 
min W. Dwight in the True Christian Teacher 
says : " Here as a physician or lawyer, who is 
elsewhere completely involved in the practical 
duties of his profession, studies the facts and 
philosophy of his case, so he carefully anal- 
yzes and defines to his own eye the condition 
and wants of his pupils, and the most efficient 
mode of meeting them. In the noblest of 
fields one surely cannot work blindly ; in the 
highest of arts he cannot reach success on a 
pathway of guesses. It is the trained eye and 
hand that hit the mark. The laws of matter 
are not more exact than are those of prosper- 



THE STUDY OF CHILDHOOD. 113 

ons labor, in things spiritual alike and intel- 
lectual." Again lie says: "Each man needs 
for his own sake to feel the pressing of his age 
upon him, as in it and for it he is required to 
conduct himself as a true man. Here is the 
horizon of his earthly being ; and amid its cir- 
cumstances, forces and movements, he is to live 
and grow and act, as in his native element. 
This age has in it the strength and fullness of 
all preceding ages. In it they find their cul- 
mination and consummation. How, is a whole 
volume of history often suddenly unrolled at 
our feet in a single day." The demand of this 
age, or one of them at least, is that we shall 
get acquainted with childhood, and especially 
is this demand imperative on those who have 
taken in hand the holy work of teaching little 
children the word of God. Says W. F. Crafts : 
" The good farmer not only observes the nature 
of his seeds, but also of his soils, and adapts 
the one to the other. That would be a strange 
man who should take into his hand a basket 
filled with a dozen varieties of seed — corn, 
melon, squash,! wheat, cucumber, beet, hay v 
and peas — and going through his various, 



114 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL HELPER. 

fields — the garden, the new land, the sandy 
soil, and the rocky soil, in the same week of 
the season, should scatter the seed promiscu- 
ously everywhere. 55 Equally unwise is the 
teacher who would sow the seeds of the king- 
dom without regard to the soil into which it 
shall fall. 

In order to successfully study childhood, let 
the teacher read the books that children read. 
The writer of this makes it a regular practice 
to read children's books and papers ; it will not 
hurt ; indeed, it will help much to spend the 
Christmas day reading " Mother Goose " with 
the children. 

Be as much as possible in company with lit- 
tle children. Set them talking. Learn their 
modes of expression and their ways of looking 
at things. Ask them questions, and they will 
ask you some ; questions that all the philoso- 
phers can't answer. Learn the dictionary of 
childhood. Quite an amusing curiosity is 
Childhood's Dictionary, a compilation of chil- 
drens definitions of common words and things, 
compiled by W. F. Crafts. To show how he 
has kept his ears open while children were 



THE STUDY OF CHILDHOOD. 115 

about him, as well as to set the reader on the 

same track, we make a few extracts : 
Apple tree in Blossom. — " God's bouquet." 
Back-biter.—" A flea," 
Little Catechism. — " Kitten chism." 
Conscience. — " Jesus whispering in our 

hearts." 

Bust. — " Mud with the juice squeezed out." 
Eternity. — "The lifetime of the Almighty." 
Kittens. — " Little pieces of cat." 
Mother. — "My bloodiest relation." Given by 

a little boy who had been taught that blood 

relations were near relations. 
Nest Egg. — " The one the old hen measures 

by." 

Short Pants. — " At half mast." 
Pig.—" A hog's little boy." 
Rainbow. — " God's smile." 
Snow. — " Rain all popped out white." 
Spell-bound. — "Unable to spell." 
Trunk of an Elephant. — " His front tail." 
Watermelon. — " A big cucumber." 
To these we add a few sayings of children 

that have come under our own observation. 
When little five-year-old was helped to 



116 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL HELPER. 

chicken pie, he said " please, mamma, give me 
some more of the barJc (crust). 

A little boy came crying into the honse, say- 
ing " that old bee stuck his pin in my foot." 

Said the writer to a company of children one 
day, " what would you call an ant that would 
not work in the summer, and then depend on 
the other ants to feed him in winter?" "A 
tramp," came quick as flash. 

Just before Christmas a brother was address- 
ing a children's meeting, and said to the chil- 
dren, " whose birthday are we going to cele- 
brate this week ?" " Santa Claus'," rang out 
like a chorus ! 

Finding a nickel one Saturday, we put it 
into our pocket, and on Sunday, put it into the 
Sunday School contribution ; but before doing 
so, made a little speech about it. Said to the 
children, " What do you suppose was my first 
thought when I saw the nickel in the road ?" 
They were expected to say, " You thought you 
would give it to the Sunday School." But in- 
stead, a boy piped out, " Thought you'd put it 
in your pocket," — and he told the truth. 

A little boy on going out into the sunshine 



THE STUDY OF CHILDHOOD. 117 

on a warm day said, " Mamma, God has turned 
his lamp up too high." 

To show that children think of profound 
questions, such as many persons seem to sup- 
pose never enter their heads, we give the fol- 
lowing : Old Brother Fox, of Paris, Mo., taught 
a class of little boys. When he died, they 
came with wreaths of flowers to place upon his 
coffin; and one of the little fellows said, 
"Papa, will Grod make Brother Fox live 
again ?" The same old question that gave Job 
trouble, had found its way to the heart of this 
little child. 

The worker among children should never get 
entirely away from his own childhood. He 
should be able at any time to reproduce its 
forms of speech, its conceptions, its fancies, 
its faults and its purposes, in order that by 
them he may be enabled to find access to the 
hearts of the little children with whom, as a 
teacher, he has to deal. 

" The words we teach must be baptised with 
genuine sympathy and love, or we can never 
get them into a child's heart. We teach from 
below our lips or not at all ; by something 
deeper than words, or the words are vain." 



118 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL HELPER. 



XVI -THE PREACHER AND THE SUNDAY 
SCHOOL. 



SHOULD the minister of a congregation sus- 
tain any special relation to the Sunday 
School growing out of his relation to the 
church ? Certainly he should. Some one has 
said that the pastor of the church, is pastor 
also, of the Sunday School. This very near 
expresses the truth. He is in some way con- 
nected with the teaching of the church, no 
difference in what form it is done; he is in 
some way responsible for the preaching of the 
gospel, whether done by himself or other mem- 
bers of the church. Let his work be one of 
general oversight, not only of the scholars, but 
of the whole work of the school. Should he 
teach a class ? Generally, no ; frequently, yes. 
If there can be obtained a supply of good 
teachers without him, let him give the strength 
and time which would be taken up in teaching, 
to his sermons. It will be better for his ser- 
mons to suffer a little in finish, than for a class 



THE PREACHER AND SUNDAY SCHOOL. 119 

to be poorly taught. It may be necessary for 
him to even superintend the school ; but this 
should be the last resort, keep him free if pos- 
sible. 

He should exercise a general oversight over 
the work, holding himself ready to anything in 
his power as circumstances may demand. He 
should always be present at every session of the 
school. 

In many schools the preacher should take 
charge of the teacher's meeting. The super- 
intendent may not be capable of making out 
of such meetings what ought to be made out 
of them. The minister is generally a man of 
some tact, as well as Bible scholarship, and 
should use these in training the teachers. 

He should see that parents are stirred up to 
their duty to the school, and that the whole 
church is kept alive to its work. He should 
exercise a constant oversight over the litera- 
ture of the school, as well as the various plans 
and projects that may come up in regard to its 
management. Especially, let him be watchful 
of concerts and entertainments of various 
kinds, to see that they are not made the means 
of bringing the world into the church. 



120 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL HELPER. 

He should preach frequently to the church 
about the school, and to the school about the 
church. He should hold children's meetings, 
preach children's sermons, and in every way 
keep the school in sympathy with his work. 
He should visit the homes of the scholars and 
learn them by their faces and names. He 
should also know their condition morally and 
religiously, and the condition of things in the 
home of each. He should read such books 
and papers as will keep him informed in regard 
to the work the Sunday School is doing in the 
world. He should keep his school in sympa- 
thy with missionary work both home and for- 
eign. 

" The pastor should not only appreciate the 
world-wide relations of his Sunday School and 
the system of which it forms a part, but should 
impress these grand and soul-inspiring ideas 
upon the minds of his teachers and scholars, 
thus elevating their hopes, ennobling their mo- 
tives, and quickening their activities in the 
discharge of their ever-recurring and often 
self-denying duties." 



COUNTRY SUNDAY SCHOOLS. 121 



XVII -COUNTRY SUNDAY SCHOOLS. 



MOST of that which is said in conventions, 
and in books on Sunday School work, 
applies to schools in towns and cities. This 
little volume shall not be charged with ignor- 
ing the workers in the country. They have 
claims upon us. 

In many respects there is no difference be- 
tween a Sunday School that meets in the 
country and one that meets in the city. The 
lessons are the same ; the scholars in both are 
men, women and children; and salvation is 
the aim of both. But in many other respects 
there is difference between them ; such differ- 
ences that many of the methods and appliances 
used in the one will be found entirely imprac- 
ticable in the other. The manners and cus- 
toms of the people are different; they live 
scattered over a large area of country ; their 
ways of looking at certain matters, and their 
relations to them, make it impossible to carry 
on any work in city and country in precisely 
the same way. 



122 THE SUKDAY SCHOOL HELPER. 

There are difficulties in carrying on Sunday 
Schools in the country, that do not affect the 
work in the cities and, towns at all. Distance 
from the place of meeting is in the way. Sum- 
mer's heat and winter's cold must be endured ; 
roads in winter get muddy and render travel 
unpleasant, and sometimes well nigh impossi- 
ble — the labors of country life are so constant 
and hard on both man and beast, that many 
farmers feel it to be too great an undertaking 
to drive half a dozen miles to church on the 
only day that affords any relaxation from the 
round of daily toil. There is much necessary 
work that cannot be neglected on a farm even 
on Sunday — care for stock, for instance — and 
that fact comes in as a difficulty that must play 
its part in the disposition which shall be made 
of Sunday. Sunday School workers, or speak- 
ers rather, have refused to recognize these and 
other things as real difficulties, but we know 
them to be such, and as such we desire them 
to have their full force ; we have written them 
down here, in order that we might appear en- 
tirely fair in the consideration of our work in 
the country. We not only know that these are 



COUNTRY SUNDAY SCHOOL. 123 

serious difficulties, but that they are such that 
nine-tenths of city people would consider per- 
fectly insurmountable ; indeed the Sunday 
School orator who soundly abuses the country 
people for their lack of interest in the work, 
would probably not do half so well as they do, 
had he the same things they have to contend 
against. 

It is thought the following suggestions are 
practical, and will help the workers meet and 
overcome their difficulties: 

1. Hold your school at an hour that will 
suit your circumstances. Do not meet at nine 
o'clock because some other school does. Select 
a time that will be convenient to the greatest 
number. Nearer the middle of the day will 
be better than the ordinary time in town. 

2. Use the same energy in the Sunday 
School that is employed in other things, and 
you will succeed. The farmer who goes to 
town to early market on Saturday morning can 
be at church at a reasonable time on Sunday 
if he will. The children who are at the day 
school five days in the week at eight o'clock in 
the morning, can surely be at the church by 
ten on Sunday. 



124 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL HELPEE. 

3. In order to be ready for the duties of the 
Lord's day get things in shape on Saturday 
afternoon or night. The reason many persons 
are debarred the joys of the Lord's house on 
the first day of the week, is because they find 
themselves overwhelmed on Sunday morning 
with things to do that should have all been 
attended to the day before ; and by the time 
these are all adjusted the time is gone, and if 
they go to church at all, they are late and so 
worn by the labors of the morning they can 
not enjoy it. 

4. Combine the worship of the church with 
the lessons of the school, so that it will be un- 
necessary either to return to church, or to 
remain too long while there. This can be very 
happily done. One trip will answer, and one 
hour and a half or two hours will be ample 
time for all. 

5. Punctuality and regularity can be secured 
in the country as well as in town, if the fore- 
going suggestions are observed. Begin on 
time and close on time. Wait for nobody. 
The few who are late at first, will be hurried 
up if it is found they are not indulged. 



COUNTRY SUNDAY SCHOOLS. 125 

It is frequently asked if the country schools 
should pursue the same course of lessons used 
by others. Certainly they should. There is 
not a thing in the way of this. They will be 
greatly helped by the consciousness that they 
are pursuing the same lessons studied by the 
schools of the world. 

In many localities it seems almost impossible 
for the people of one church to sustain a Sun- 
day School, When this is the case let all the 
religious people in a neighborhood unite to 
study and teach the Bible. As a rule, we are 
not favorable to union schools, and only advise 
this course where it is plain that nothing better 
can be done. The time has come in the history 
of Christianity when we are willing for others 
to entertain and express their views of the 
word of God ; and though two men may differ, 
the fact that they are engaged in a common 
work, will bring them to a better understand- 
ing of one another, and draw them nearer 
together. 

It is highly gratifying to know that the Sun- 
day School cause is gaining ground in the rural 
districts. It is beginning to be seen that the 



126 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL HELPER. 

work can be prosecuted in the country as well 
as in town. In many respects the field is more 
inviting than the towns and cities. Christian 
people begin to realize the power the Sunday 
School may be made in the prosecution of their 
church enterprise ; that while it can get along 
without them, they can not get along without 
it. All these things put together encourage us 
to expect a time when this cause shall prevail 
over the whole land. 



XVIII -THINGS LEFT OVER. 



A S we have written the foregoing chapters, 
Jl\ many a thought has been suggested, which 
would not fit logically into any special place. 
A few of these have been gathered together 
and are put into a place by themselves, and 
though they do not " hang together " logically, 
we will hang them together anyhow. 

CONVENTIONS. 

The workers in the various counties should 
form themselves into cooperative associations. 



THINGS LEFT OVEE. 127 

These should meet at least annually. The pur- 
poses of such conventions should be to bring 
the teachers and workers into sympathy with 
each other; to agitate the subject in the vari- 
ous communities ; to discuss methods of work, 
and to generate enthusiasm. Preparation for 
such meetings should be made several months 
beforehand. Speakers should be appointed, 
and subjects assigned them. They should be 
expected to write what they have to say. The 
programme should possess variety. Exercises 
should be short. These organizations should 
be kept in sympathy with our organized efforts 
now being made throughout the whole country. 

AN OLD FOLKS' CLASS. 

Such was one of the most interesting features 
of a Sunday School we ever saw. A lot of old 
ladies in their caps and spec's, and several old 
gentlemen in their Sunday clothes, all busy 
with their Bibles — it was a beautiful sight. 
Their example was full of encouragement to 
the young, and their study was a blessing to 
their declining years. Every school might have 
such a class. Let us forever get rid of the idea 



128 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL HELPEE. 

that Sunday Schools are alone for little chil- 
dren. Let us make it a profitable and delight- 
some place for the old. Its instructions and 
worship will be a beautiful light for their path- 
way as it leads them through the valley. 

OBSCUBE WOEKEES. 

Dear teacher, the world will probably know 
nothing of your work, you will not be eulogized 
either while you live or when you are dead. 
Possibly no one will even speak an encourag- 
ing word to you. The world has always been 
and is now full of such workers. Will you get 
discouraged because of your obscurity ? Will 
you throw aside your work because in the eyes 
of men it is so small ? Not if you are true to 
your Lord. The world is mistaken when it 
estimates your work as insignificant ; the chil- 
dren may be small and few in the class, but no 
matter; those little souls must be fitted for 
heaven and to your hands the Lord in his 
providence has committed that important work, 
and you must toil on. He who knows how to 
properly weigh our efforts is watching your 
every struggle ; He is preparing your crown, 



THINGS LEFT OVER. 129 

and every little soul you prepare for his service, 
adds to its glory. No difference how men 
neglect you, if the Savior be with you in your 
work; toil on till He gives release, and you 
shall hear Him say, as you emerge from earthly 
obscurity to heavenly glory, " Well done, good 
and faithful servant." 

ENCOURAGE THE CHILDREN TO READ. 

A few days since we were spending a few 
hours in the home of one of our Missouri 
preachers. Little six year old Albert said to 
us, "Do you take the St. Nicholas at your 
house ?" And then the next thing was for him 
to lug forth the year's numbers of this most 
excellent children's journal, to show the pic- 
tures and tell the stories it contains. 

The other children gathered round, and we 
had a genuine good time reading and talking 
of the entertaining things the paper had borne 
into their home. As we read and talked and 
laughed, we could not .but think of the many 
homes in our land where the children have 
nothing to read ; and of the many others where 
the only reading they have is poison to their 
minds and hearts. 



130 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL HELPER. 

Why do the boys and girls get tired of 
home ? One reason is, there is nothing to en- 
tertain them and make home a cheerful place ; 
no books, no papers, no pictures, no music ; 
nothing but drudgery and toil. Even the few 
cents spent for the most necessary school 
books is grudgingly spent, by the father who 
loves his money more than his children. Is it 
any wonder that a boy raised in such a home, 
should grow tired of the place when he finds 
how much of happiness there is in reach of 
others, while it is denied him ? 

But still no reading is better than that which 
is welcomed into many homes. Evil communi- 
cations corrupt good manners. These may 
come in the shape of a bad book, a vile paper 
or an indecent picture, as well as in the shape 
of a wicked companion. Bad reading is 
moral poison. It should be so labeled. Pa- 
rents and Sunday School workers should, by 
all possible means, protect their children 
against it. 

The only way to manage these matters is to 
follow the example of the preacher to whose 
family reference is made above, and put into 



THINGS LEFT OVEE. 131 

the hands of the children plenty of that which 
is pure, entertaining and instructive, and en- 
courage them to form the habit of reading it. 
There is no mail more welcome in our home 
than that which brings Wide Awake — the chil- 
dren's paper. How the eyes sparkle ; how the 
tongues go; how the stories are devoured! 
God help us all to help the children to purity 
of mind, heart and life. 

REWARDS. 

Shall rewards be given ? Many answer " Yes, 
by all means, reward the children when they 
do right." But others answer, "No, don't re- 
ward people for doing right ; the action itself 
will be its own reward." 

We do not believe it to be wrong to give re 
wards in Sunday School, provided care is taken 
to give them on a proper basis. 

Don't give rewards or prizes on such a basis 
as will prevent all from competing for them. 
If a book is offered to the one memorizing the 
greatest number of verses, only those possess- 
ing good memories will try to get it, and then 
only one of the few who do try, can be success- 



132 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL HELPER. 

ful, though all may work equally hard. But if 
a prize is offered every one who is present 
every Sunday in the quarter, or year, all can 
compete for it ; for the dull ones can be regular 
as well as the bright ones, and all can obtain 
the prize for the same reason. This is pre- 
cisely the way Grod offers prizes or rewards ; 
heaven is not for the one with the most brains, 
but for the one with the most faith, and the 
truest life. 

If rewards are offered at all, let something 
like this be the basis of the offer. 

PARENTS AND CHILDREN AT CHURCH. 

Do you take your children to the house of 
the Lord? or do you allow them to stroll 
where they will ? Do you take them with you 
into your seat, and see that they behave them- 
selves ? or do you allow them to remain out- 
side, or get a seat amongst wicked children, 
who will teach them irreverence for the Lord's 
worship ? If the latter, there is a terrible har- 
vest you shall soon be called upon to reap. Be 
careful of your children's conduct in the house 
of God. 



THINGS LEFT OYEE. 133 

THE OLD FOLKS. 

Possibly you old folks have sometimes 
thought that you have lived so long there is now 
nothing more that you can do in the world ; 
but this is a mistake. Probably the most 
effective work of your life remains to be done 
in the few days you shall yet live. Old people 
can do for the Lord what they could not have 
done when they were young; a work which 
only old people can do. Your experience with 
life is now ripe ; you have passed through its 
storms ; you have learned much by your own 
observation of its disappointments ; you have 
drunk deeper draughts of its cups of sorrow 
than we younger ones have ever yet tasted. 
You are, therefore, prepared to guide the feet 
of the young with such counsels as you never 
gave before. Paul therefore says to the aged 
women : " The aged women likewise that they 
be in behavior as becometh holiness. * * * 
teachers of good things ; that they teach the 
young women to be sober, to love their hus- 
bands, to love their children," etc. David tells 
us the work of the old is to " show the strength 



134 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL HELPER. 

of the Lord to this generation." How often 
have yon seen the strength of the Lord ; how 
many times has he proven himself strong for 
your help in times of need, when earthly arms 
were too weak to hold yon up amid the distress 
of this life. Not long ago in the social circle 
we were singing : 

"He is willing to aid you, 
He will carry you through." 
"Yes," said the old grandmother who sat 
with us, " I know that to be true ; I have tried 
Him for sixty years, and He has never failed 
to carry me through." How such words en- 
courage us who are starting in life's journey 
to trust the Lord and go forward. I have 
thought that heaven must appear much more a 
real thing to the old than to others. They have 
come to the very brink of the river ; they can 
look across and see their home; can almost 
catch the very accents of the voices of those 
loved ones who have gone before, and now call 
them to join them in the heavenly land. What 
a good number of them there are standing on 
the other shore. There stands the husband or 
wife, that one day so unexpectly folded their 



THINGS LEFT OVER. 135 

hands and whispered good-by, and left behind 
a vacant chair and a darkened home. There 
are the sons and daughters, whose names have 
almost faded from every earthly spot save the 
white gravestone and their mother's heart ; they 
are all there, even to the little fair haired babe, 
that had only learned to lisp its parent's 
names, and then stole quietly away and left 
but a beautiful piece of clay behind. It surely 
is not hard to die when death is only a sum- 
mons to go and join this company of waiting 
ones who dwell in the sweet presence of the 
dear Lord. It is like the death of Moses wh » 
looked from u the top of Pisgah," across to the 
home of God's people, and then, as the Heav- 
enly Father watched beside him, " died there 
in the land of Moab, according to the word of 
the Lord." My dear old brethren and sisters 
who read this, I doubt not have some times 
looked forward to the time when they shall be 
laid in the old family burying ground, beside 
their loved ones, with much the same feeling 
with Jacob, who said to his sons, after giving 
them his blessing : "Bury me with my fathers 
in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the 



136 THE SUNDAY SCHOOL HELPEE. 

Hittite. ■ * * * * There they buried Abra- 
ham and Sarah his wife; there they buried 
Isaac and Rebekah his wife; and there I 
buried Leah." 

Sometimes the old grow peevish and morose, 
and impatient with the follies and inexperi- 
ence of youth ; thus they sometimes deprive 
themselves unnecessarily of the enjoyments of 
the days that remain. It seems to me that if 
there is any one in all the world who has rea- 
son to be cheerful and buoyant, it is he who 
has fought the fight and finished the course, 
and to whom heaven is so near and release 
from earthly cares so close at hand. But I will 
not deny that the old are sometimes badly 
treated and neglected: with shame the reflec- 
tion comes, that we who are young sometimes 
treat them irreverently, and slight them. Many 
of the boys and girls have no respect for 
grandma or grandpa, and look upon them in 
the light of nuisances to be simply tolerated ; 
at least their treatment of them would lead us 
to think so ; perhaps much of the apparent dis- 
respect is only thoughtlessness ; let us hope so. 
There are many noble exceptions, however. 



THINGS LEFT OYEE. " 137 

In the same family with the old sister whose 
words suggested this article, there were a boy 
and girl who know how to honor grandma, and 
I learned to love them for it. 

What a strange thing it is to see an old per- 
son, especially an old woman, who does not 
believe the Bible. Not long ago I saw just 
such a one ; an old woman with tottering steps 
and trembling hands, who was just ready to go 
down to the grave without hope and without 
God. What a cheerless old age must that have 
been ! 

And now my dear old friends, we have had 
quite a little chat with you. It may be the 
last. May your last days be your very best 
and happiest days. And when the summons 
shortly comes may you go with joy to your 
rest, and when life's toils are over, we will meet 
you to spend an eternal youth together. 



138 AN ESSAY. 



An Essay. 



CHRISTIAN WOMAN'S RESPONSIBILITY IN 

THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 

OF THE YOUNG. 



BY MRS. O. A. CARR, COLUMBIA, MO. 



The boundary lines of woman's legitimate -field of labor are 
clearly described by unerring revelation; and I have no pa- 
tience with the aggressive spirit that characterizes so many 
women of the present age. God has assigned to man his work, 
and to woman hers ; and, in comparing the two, the idea of su- 
periority or inferiority is wholly inadmissible, for the one was 
divinely appointed to be the complement of the other. What- 
ever the Holy Spirit teaches woman to do, she must do, other- 
wise God will not hold her guiltless. She cannot without 
jeopardizing her eternal interest either contract or enlarge the 
revealed boundaries of her sphere of action. If she contract 
them, then she shuts out golden opportunities for good ; then 
she cuts off rich lands of promise where she ought to have sown 
the precious seed that grow and blossom under the grace of 
God, and bring forth fruit unto everlasting life. If she extend 
them, then she brings reproach upon the sweetest grace of 
womanhood, misdirects her energies, perverts her mission, cor- 
rupts the influence of a great sisterhood entrusted with impres- 
sible, immortal spirits, and Christianity feels the shock. 
She who would waste her God-given powers in advocating 



AN ESSAY. 139 

either theoretically or practically the doctrine of woman's 
rights in its popular acceptation, stifles the noblest instincts of 
her nature, insults the wisdom of God, rejects an unerring reve- 
lation, and shuts out the heavenly light that beautifies her 
womanhood and glorifies her spirit. Her legitimate field of 
labor is broad enough, and urgently demands the tenderest 
affections of her heart, the soberest thoughts of her intellect, 
the noblest efforts of her genius and the best work of her hands. 
As long as there are homes to make happy, and little hearts to 
lead heavenward, as long as the suffering or the dying needs a 
ministering spirit, as long as God's poor are with us to feed and 
to clothe, as long as the pure sentiments of Hannah More, or an 
Elizabeth Barrett Browning is needed to stem the flood-tide of 
corruption, so long as there are colleges and Sunday Schools, 
woman cannot, with impunity idly fold her hands, or seek for 
work beyond her sphere. 

That the Sunday School is a legitimate field of labor for Chris- 
tian woman will hardly admit of discussion, for it is implied in 
more than one passage of Scripture. The work proposed in the 
Sunday School is the religious education of the young. I say 
not that this work is always successfully accomplished, but it 
certainly is the professed and chief object. Now, that this work 
devolves upon Christian women as well as upon Christian men, 
is evident from the teaching universally admitted that the re- 
sponsibility of promulgating the gospel is laid upon the church. 
It is true that the Apostle enjoins upon woman a silence and 
submission that comports beautifully with the diffidence and 
modesty that are set as shining lights in her character, but her 
usefulness in the Church of God is not thereby curtailed. 
Think you that the gospel is preached only when it sounds with 
ponderous eloquence from the pulpit? I say unto you, that 
there are modest teachings from the lips of woman in the family 
and social circle and in the Sunday School, sweeter than the 
droppings of the honeycomb. She is ordained by the law of 
nature and by the infallible word to preach and to teach, but 
quietly, silently, unobtrusively, true to the essential and beau- 
tiful characteristics of a purified womanhood. 

The New Testament contemplates all Christians as teachers. 
The Apostle, in his epistle to the Hebrews, says that when for 
the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach 



140 AK ESSAY. 

you. If this passage mean anything, it enforces that all Chris- 
tians ought to be qualified to teach, for, if it was a reproach for 
the Hebrews to be unable to teach, how much greater will be 
our condemnation, if, in the full blaze of gospel light, we fail to 
meet the solemn responsibilities born of our relation to the 
Church of God. I cannot think that Hebrews 5, 12, has any 
reference to special teachers ordained by the Church, such as 
bishops and evangelists. The inspired writer contemplates an- 
other and a larger class, even all to whom his letter is addressed, 
and a fortiori, to the Church in all its succeeding ages. The 
taught may be either within or without the church ; but this 
passage evidently enjoins the instruction of those without the 
church. The Sunday School by no means exhausts this field, 
but it certainly comes within it. 

Such injunctions as " teach all nations " and " bring up your 
children in the nuture and admonition of the Lord," clearly 
imply the necessity of devising some plan for the religious in- 
struction of the young. The law commands us to teach and we 
must teach ; but whether each family be instructed separately 
in its own home, or whether many families unite in a Sunday 
School or Monday school capacity, is wholly a»matter of expedi- 
ency ; because either one can be traced back along the infallible 
line of authority to the direct command. If it could not be 
traced back to some scripture statement or example, it would 
not come within the bounds of expediency, because not within 
the bounds of law, and the God-fearing Christian would not 
dare to sanction the unholy thing. Our venerable and much 
beloved brother, Samuel Rogers, in the beautiful child-like 
faith of a helpless old age, once said, " It is a good man that 
does just what he is told to do." 

In forwarding the work of the Master, in proselyting or edu- 
cating, or worshipping, let the children of God do just that 
which an infallible, authoritative and all-sufficient revelation 
enjoins and they will do well. Beyond this they cannot go 
without insult to divine wisdom and without jeopardizing the 
purity of the church of God. In organizing the Sunday School, 
and laboring for the promotion of its interest, we have the 
happy consciousness that we are trying to do what our Father 
bids us do, and, though our work may be very imperfect and 
lamentably unproductive of desired results, we know that 



AN ESSAY. 141 

every father and mother in the church realized this responsi- 
bility and were prepared to keep this solemn charge. 
' The religious instruction of the young is indispensable to the 
prosperity of the church, and if parents are unqualified, or if 
providing for the household claim their whole attention, upon 
the church devolves the all important work of education. To 
this work woman is ordained by the law of nature which is the 
law of God, and by the unerring and authoritative word. 
Anxious vigils by the cradle-side, hourly administering to little 
wants and daily soothing little sorrows, give her a deep insight 
into the child-heart and a keen perception of the human, and 
none knows so well as she just what motives to present to in- 
spire to pure thought and right action. No one is more emi- 
nently fitted for this work than she. Who knows all the strings 
of that wonderful instrument — the child-heart — and who knows 
bo well just when and how to strike each one? No other 
touch than hers can call forth such sweet harmonies, for be- 
tween the player and the instrument there is a sympathy full of 
inspiration which none but a mother's heart can feel. No un- 
practised hand should strike upon chords so tender, for a few 
unskillful sweeps might scatter forever the music of a life. 
But, let woman with her deep loves and penetrating sympathies 
touch the chords of gold, and forth will flow melodies low and 
sweet, richer far than the harp-like sounds of magic Memnon at 
the rising sun. 

By the authority of nature's law, by the most powertul in- 
stincts of the woman-heart, the mother is the child's first and 
best teacher. It is her blessed privilege to nurse and to nourish 
every one that comes into the world, and the God of her chil- 
dren has delegated to her an authority over the mind in its 
most impressible state, paramount to every other. The first 
love awakened in the infant heart, and the first relation recog- 
nized by the infant mind are inspired by a mother's protection 
and a mother's love. To the child the will of mother is law ; 
her teachings are infallible, and its character is moulded by 
them. It trusts her completely, and most willingly submits to 
her authority. Her face is the first volume that it reads, and 
the inspirations drawn therefrom are the purest it will ever 
quaff without the lids of the Bible. Its trust strengthens with 
the months, and as the years creep on and its apprehensions 



142 AN ESSAY. 

multiply, every good woman becomes a reflection of its mother, 
and is beautiful in its sight, is a guardian angel and an oracle of 
wisdom. With such a confidence in the child's heart that is 
ready to believe all things, and with such a lively sympathy in 
hers, is she not eminently qualified to tell the sweet story of the 
Cross to lead the young heart God-ward? No voice is so per- 
suasive as hers, and no sympathy so touching, and no hand is 
so gently powerful to bind the affections to the throne of God. 
If it be the duty of the Evangelist to convert, it is hers to 
teach : if it be his duty to build in the lively stones, it is hers 
to chisel them in the quarry ; if it be his duty to reform the life, 
it is hers to form the character. The gospel that must at last 
justify, sanctify and glorify, that must at last complete the re- 
demption of humanity, is not a formal proclamation from the 
pulpit once a week, or once a month, or once every day for two 
weeks amidst the excitement of a protracted meeting, but 
rather an unassuming and a faithful ministration around the 
hearthstone and in the Sunday School. This ministration, 
teaching the young concerning God, and the things of God, is 
the pecular work of woman — the most solemn charge that God 
ever placed in human hands, and it is her honor and her crown. 
She sows the seed in childhood, and womanhood and manhood 
rejoices in the golden harvest. No hand so well as hers that 
rocks the cradle can keep the little ones in the paths of pleas- 
antness — in the green pastures and beside the still waters, and 
no teaching is so powerful as hers to strengthen them to resist 
the temptations, and to bear the sorrows that inevitably beat 
beyond the charmed boundary of childhood. Woman is a 
called laborer in the great quarry wherein are prepared living 
stones for the rising walls of the beautiful temple of Zion, and 
God has made her the most skillful among workers. Here she 
should appropriate her talent, here concentrate her energies. 
A failure here would be fatal to her own spiritual lite, and to 
the purity of the church of God. 

Daughters of Zion, do we realize the awful responsibility 
that Heaven has placed upon us — that we are moulders of char- 
acter, that we are keepers of immortal spirits in their most 
pliant state, that we are skillful workers in God's quarry, and 
shall we bury our talent and fill our hearts and lives with deadly 
frivolties while the Evangelist builds unhewn stones into that 



AN ESSAY. 143 

glorious temple wherein clwelleth the Holy Spirit? Or shall we 
not rather, in the true spirit of our mission, with the light of 
God's face shining upon us, go forth to the hills of marble and 
groves of cedar, and, while the minister builds the enduring 
walls, shall not we, in our homes, and in the Sunday School, 
hew the strengthening block and prepare the adorning column? 

If responsibility be measured by opportunity, then how great 
is the responsibility of the Christian woman of America ! Her 
educational facilities are far superior to those enjoyed by the 
women of any other nation under the sun. Her mind is better 
disciplined, she has more encouragement to cultivate independ- 
ence or thought and feeling, the laws of her nation foster reli- 
gious liberty, and the very vastness of the physical features of 
her country, its rivers, inland seas, snow-capped mountains, 
its far-reaching prairies and interminable forests, all inspire to 
elevated conceptions, to grand achievements and to the devel- 
opment of dignity and force of character. Our fair land is 
dotted with colleges devoted exclusively to her education, and 
many of our universities open to her the superior advantages of 
more lordly minds. She is taught to analyze and syllogize, and 
her mind learns to appreciate logical thought. She has every 
aid to the correct apprehension of scripture teaching, and the 
Bible is in her hands. Does she utelize her mental discipline 
in her highest and best work, training the young for the church 
and for Heaven ! — does she offer to God the rich fruits of her 
superior advantages upon the altar of human good ? Were she 
thus faithful in the exercise of her talent, the Sunday School 
would never suffer the reproach of appointing recruiting offi- 
cers or begging for teachers. 

The church is the power that must convert the world, the 
efficiency of the church depends upon the proper education of 
the young, and to this all important work warm-hearted, cul- 
tivated woman is pre-eminently adapted. Then how sacred is 
the trust committed to Christian woman, how stupendous and 
far-reaching is the character of her work ! My dear sisters, if 
we would have the church strong, if we would have it pure and 
chaste, and Christlike, if we would have the Evangelist build 
in gold and silver and precious stones, we must break away 
from the bondage in which the corrupt spirit of the age hath 
bound us, and take up again the glorious life — work for which 



144 AN ESSAY. 

nature has fitted us, and to which revelation has appointed us — 
the education of young, impressible, immortal spirits. Let us 
awake from our lethargy, let us lift ourselves out of the depths 
of flowers and feathers and furbelows and flounces, to the gran- 
deur and dignity of an active, energetic womanhood, where we 
shall breathe the freshness of a new life, and be made strong to 
accomplish aright our God-appointed mission, to draw the little 
ones heavenward. 



"He liveth long who livet> well, 
And other life is short and vain ; 
He liveth longest who can tell 
Of living most for heavenly gain. 

He liveth long who liveth well, 
All else is being flung^away : 

He liveth longest who can tell 
Of true things truly done each day. 



Sunday-School Workers. 

I desire to return my sincere thanks to all my friends who have 
favored me with their orders, since I opened business in 1875, and 
trust, by prompt attention to all business placed in my hands, to merit 
their continued patronage . 

I would call your attention to my facilities for supplying 

Sunday-school Supplies, of Every Variety. 

Such as Papers, Lesson Leaves, Teachers' and Scholar's Month- 
lies and Quarterlies, Reward Cards, and Tickets, Class Books, 
Record Books, Maps. Banners, Song Books, Bells, Libraries, Etc., 
all furnished at the Lowest Cash Prices. 

Catalogues and prices furnished on application. 
Correspondence is desired, and will receive prompt and careful 
attention • v 



Subscription Department. 

Subscriptions taken for all Sunday- school Papers, Lesson Leaves, 
Teachers' and Scholar's Monthlies and Quarterlies, and other Papers 
and Magazines, at Publishers' prices. I confine myself to no one series 
but supply AIL Samples furnished free. 

Would call attention to GOOD WORDS PUB. CO.'S SERIES, viz., 
The Parent's and Teachers' Monthly, Teachers' Guide, Good Words, 
Graded Lesson Leaf, and Little Pearls. 

CENTRAL BOOK CONCERN SERIES, viz: Christian Sunday- 
School Teacher, Little Christian, Christian Bible Lessons and The 
Little Ones. 

GARRISON & SMART'S SERIES, viz : Little Sower, Young Sower, 
Sunny Side and Gospel Sower. 

STANDARD PUBLISHING CO'S SERIES, viz: Teacher's Mentor, 
Sunday School Standard, Standard Bible Lessons and Standard Les- 
son Leaves. 

Orders should not be for less than three months. 

Prices and samples furnished on application to 

JOHN BONS, 

Headquarters for Christian Publications and 
Sunday-School Supplies. 



TEACHER^ BIBLE. 

They contain, in addition to the authorized Text, with the Referen- 
ces, all that is essential in the Study of the Bible. Furnished with 
one of these Bibles, no teacher would be at a loss anywhere, or at any 
time, in the preparation of his lesson. With the Notes and Tables are 
embodied the results of the most recent and authentic research of 
Biblical Scholars, and it is believed that nothing has been omitted 
that can be desired in a 

TEACHER'S BIBLE. 

Prices from $1.50 up to the most expensive. Send for price list 
giving style and prices, and specimen of type. 



CHRISTIAN S. S. LIBRARY. 

New Edition, with New Illustrations. 

This valuable set of books has been written and published expressly 
for Christian Sunday Schools and Christian Families. Edited by D. 
S. Burnet. This is the Christian Sunday School Library, and 
should find a place in all our Sunday School, Church and Christian 
Family Libraries. 

The books are neatly and substantially bound in cloth, with gilt 

back. 50 books in 40 volumes. 32mo, cloth $12 00. 

SPECIAL INDUCEMENTS. 

To all purchasers of libraries, T will give a discount corresponding 
to the amount invested 

Every school should have a circulating library of carefully selected 
books, free from the errors of sectarianism and infidelity, and adapt- 
ed to the real wants of the readers. 

I will make it my aim to make a selection suited to the wants of our 
Brethren. I can supply, to order, anything needed in this line. 



INTERNATIONALES. WALL MAR A. 

(40 x 60) . Showing the Western Half of the Scripture World, em- 
bracing the countries of Asia Minor, Greece, Province of Achaia, 
Italv, Macedonia, Isle of Malta, Cyprus, and a part of Palestine, and 
by colored lines illustrating THE JOURNEYS OF ST. PAUL, with 
table of places visited bv the Apostle in his various circuits, and a 
chronology. Compiled from the great works of Conybenre and How- 
son and Thomas Lewin . Sent by mail on receipt of price. 
With colored lines, showing the Apostle's various journeys, 

cream paper $1 50. 

On white muslin, colored lines 2 00 

On white paper, mounted on muslin, and varnished, countries 

colored , {Can be sent only by Express) 3 00 . 



S. S. Reward Cards. 

I have lately made several additions of STEW, CHEAP AJfD 
EEEGASJT REWARD CARDS AJTD TICKETS. Prices and 
samples furnished on application. 



Teac her's Aids. 

Every teacher should be well supplied with helps, as now pub- 
lished, such as The Parent's and Teacher's Monthly, Teacher's Men- 
tor, and Christian Sunday-School Teacher. 



THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL HELPER 

A Practical Hand-Book for all Sunday-School Workers: 

By J. H. Hardin, Containing' suggestions on all phases of the work 
which should be read and consulted by all workers, and will result 
in giving new impetus and arouse more earnest zeal in teaching and 
1* a ling the people to Christ. Also an excellent Essay on " Christian 
Woman's responsibility in the religious education of the young," by 
Mrs. O. A. C'arr. 144 pages; price 50 cents. 



SELECT NOTES ON THE INTERNATIONAL 

Sunday-School Lessons 

"FOR ONE YEAR. 

Explanatory, Illustrative and Practical. With Maps and 
of Tables of the Signification and Pronunciation of Proper 
Names. By Rev. F. N. and M. A. Peloubet. Large 8vo., 

Cloth * $ 1 25 

Commentary on Matthew and Mark. By Prof. J. W. Mc- 

Garvey 2 00 

Commentary on Luke . By J. S . Lamar 2 00 

Commentary on Acts. By Prof. J. W McGarvey -. . . . 1 50 

Analysis of the Gospel and Acts. By Pres't R. Milligan 2 00 

Commentary on Hebrews . By Pres't R. Milligan 2 00 

Commentary on Romans. By M. E . Lard 3 00 

Cruden's Complete Concordance, 8vo. , 856 pages, cloth 1 50 

Smith's Bible Dictionary, 8vo. , 1019 pages 3 00 

Smith's Bible Dictionary, 8vo . , 776 pages 2 00 

Standard Sunday School Manual. By F. M. Green 1 00 



International S. S. Wall Map, C. 

PALESTINE AT THE TIME OF CHRIST, 

AND MAP OF CITY OF JERUSALEM 

(40x60). Prepared from the best authorities and latest surveys. 
All places mentioned in New Testament, the locations of which are 
known; those mentioned in N. T. , the locations of which are conject- 
ural. Those not mentioned in N. T. but in existence at the time of 
Christ, the locations of which are known, also, conjectural. Where 
location is doubtful so designated. 

On fine white muslin, countries colored $2 50. 

White paper, mounted on rollers, countries colored and var- 
nished , . 3 50. 

All other Maps furnished on application. 



Presentation Books, 

OF ALL SIZES AND PRICES 

When ordering, state the amount you have to invest, give sex, and 
number of volumes, and, when you can, state whether History, Bi- 
ography, Story, etc., is wanted. Correspondence will have prompt 
attention. Orders should be sent in early, to avoid delay. 



S. S. Music Books. 

The late-t and best, with the old stand-by's can always be had at 

HEADQUARTERS. 



FINALLY, 

Don't fail to send your orders, when wanting ANYTHING, in my 
line of business. 
Address 



Publisher & Bookseller, 



Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. 
Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
Treatment Date: Sept. 2005 

PreservationTechnologies 

A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATION 
111 Thomson Park Drive 
Cranberry Township, PA 16066 
(724)779-2111 




■I 



